Shining Wizard

This guy has taken a tremendous beating in the media over the past year or so and I've heard several friends comment on how they would not like to see one of his movies cause they don't want to support the cult of Scientology or encourage more of his bizarre couch jumping behavior. Comments like these really drive me up the wall cause in my opinion we are all being manipulated by the media in order to try and tear down the biggest star of our time. Now don't get me wrong, the guy does a lot of stuff offscreen and in his personnel life that I don't agree with or understand but the work he does, which is what actually matters, is pretty incredible.

If you really love movies you should love Cruise. And I'll tell you why... he's the only effing actor who has made it big, this side of the 1970's who actually realizes how important it is to surround yourself with a good director, good script, other good actors, technicians, producers, etc. And he realizes that he's running the TOM CRUISE show, not the SNOTTY WILLIAM MORRIS AGENT AND PUBLICIST SHOW. Like... ohhh... just about every other actor in existence since DeNiro did Raging Bull. Unlike Brad Pitt or any number of other actors who are ONLY tabloid fodder and have seen the seriousness with which their audience sees them dither in recent years, Tom Cruise will grab Paul Thomas Anderson, coming off of Boogie Nights, and say, "I'll do anything in your next movie." What happens? It's an ensemble and does Cruise say, "No, fuck that, can't do it, I'm the biggest star in the world." No, he does it, puts in a great performance, becomes putty in the director's hands, trusts the director and the writer, and what happens? Great performance in a pretty good movie. Tom Cruise KNOWS he's not the greatest actor in the world, and though he may not have much self-awareness in his personal life as of late, I have to applaud someone who is that successful having that kind of awareness as an artist/producer. He does the MI movies to put cash in the bank so he can go work with someone like Michael Mann on his next movie on a relatively small budget, doing something shot on fucking HD. PERIOD. I hate to always use Brad Pitt as an example, but he could have been bigger with a better career than Cruise and instead he continually turns down films like The Fountain, which, though it's a huge risk artistically and financially, that is precisely what makes it worth doing. Who else would give themselves to Kubrick for three years and tell the agents and publicists to go fuck themselves because he's not out making 100 million dollar blockbusters that make them a nice 15 percent commission on 20+ million fee every year. Not to mention that if there's an indy feature or short out there, like that film that kid did, Bobby Loves Mangoes, he goes out, grabs the person and does what he can for them. Make no mistake, Tom Cruise may be a little nutty with the scientology and he really should, if he is going to be intelligent as an artist and a producer, stay out of the tabloid limelight, but he does LOVE the art of movies and is passionate about making them. I can't say that about pretty much any other star right now, except, maybe, George Clooney and I know Matt Damon does too, but, again, realize that your career is the MATT DAMON show and pick some fucking interesting scripts where you DON'T get paid 20 million bucks, but you DO get to take an artistic risk. Be like Nicholson on Cuckoo's Nest. Maybe Cruise is gay, because unlike other people of his stature, he occasionally puts his money where his mouth is and TAKES IT ON THE BACK-END. Ok my rant is now concluded. Thoughts?