Tom Cruise

[ravenus]

I think Leo is at his best when the roles he plays and the directors he works with are not so much concerned about the whole Dicaprio teen idol persona...the best example of how NOT to do a film with Leo is The Beach where they screwed around with the core story to pander to his hunk status.

 

[Leto]

And screwed the island, but that's another question.
For me Leonardo was at his best in Growing pains.

 

[Princess Ivy]

Leo De Crapio, grrrrrrr, the only thing I hated about 'man in the iron mask' i find him extremely limited as an actor and won't watch a film with him in it! of course the film was saved by gerard depardu, gabriel biryn and john malchovich.
tom cruise i find very limited. Vanila Sky and minority report are two of the recent ones that i've been aflicted with. both had a potential to be fantastic films, and yet both films landed flat on their faces due to cruise! he just played tom cruise.
I'll admit to liking him in top gun, as a kid, but watching it recently, i was shocked at just how sterotypical it was, and how sexist. i'm almost at the point of not watching him on principle. and i have low expectation of war of the world. but then, a film based on the novel which when read on the radio cause national panic, how can it live up? I think he doomed himself with it, before the director even shouted 'action'

 

[Leto]

How can a film be saved by Gerard Depardieu ? This guy recently butchered two of my favorite fictionnal characters and don't play a part anymore. He plays Gerard Depardieu playing the part of...

 

[GOLLUM]

I find myself developing a healthy respect for Tom Cruise, as being a pretty decent serious actor. His seems to have a good choice of scripts he takes, and he seems to do a pretty good job of covering emotions - in Last Samurai I found him to be pretty excellent. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how he plays in the new War of the Worlds film.

Is this a generally accepted view, or is this a sign of premature dementia?

Other than the fact he can't act like DiCaprio (who' only marginally better at times) he's OK I suppose!!

Senile dementia cometh methinks....

 

[Calis]

It is interesting how people take notice of the actors and how bad they are.

I just watch a movie because it is entertaining, and i dont notice acting skills (unless they are beyond pathetic) and I have enjoyed a lot of Cruise movies and Di Caprio for that matter.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Well, considering that the actors are the vehicles of the story- that a story is basically about people if it's any good - we can't help but notice if they're doing a good job of it, I think!

 

[Princess Ivy]

well said.

 

[Alysheba]

I never cared for Tom Cruise until I saw "Interview With The Vampire". Then I started liking his work. One thing for sure, the man has a head for business. He has Hollywood wrapped around his little finger. Which is a great thing when you can pick and choose roles at your liesure. Most actors don't have that advantage. I like him now. 15 years ago I would've passed.

 

[Calis]

Well, considering that the actors are the vehicles of the story- that a story is basically about people if it's any good - we can't help but notice if they're doing a good job of it, I think!

I can and it isnt hard to do.

 

[Dave]

I think he's getting a "better" actor as he gets older.

I agree with the earlier comments. In his earlier films he did tend to play the same stereotypical young hotshot, brusque "top gun" pilot-type - though I think he was ideal for that in Cocktail and excellent in Rain Main. I haven't seen The Last Samurai so I can't comment, but he did have to act in War of the Worlds and he is showing that he can when he has to. He also does many of his own stunts in Mission Impossible.

He does have a knack of picking blockbusting films to be involved in and I don't think that is just luck. He is a good businessman. I think he researches what he does carefully, puts his own money into the projects, and he spends a long time with fans. He is the only actor to spend hours in the crowds outside film premiers in London's Leicester Square. Some actors don't even bother to turn up. He only got squirted in the face only because he does go right up to the people. He has been to Japan premiers more than any other actor and The Last Samurai is a huge film there.

However, you should leave your personal life out of your work. That's difficult for an actor to do, but the constant promotion of your religion and your trophy wives is an uncomfortable sight to watch. Scientology is an easy target and he isn't the only actor involved with it. He does probably make the most noise about it though. I have to say that 'missionary' work is a fundamental part of most religions, and he obviously is just very committed to it. His antics on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in other interviews have caused Paramount to drop him. I think they might regret that decision though, he still has a big pull as this article shows and Paramount surely needs some success:

World Entertainment Network
10/10/06

Japan Declares 'Tom Cruise Day'

Tom Cruise has had a special day named in his honor in Japan. According to the Japan Memorial Day Association, he was awarded with his own day because of his love for and close association with Japan.

Cruise's film, The Last Samurai, grossed $117 million more in Japan than it did in the US. The actor has paid more visits to the country than any other major Hollywood star and spends hours on end with fans in the country.

His public relations tour of Japan last spring to promote Mission: Impossible III included a trip on the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo, during which he had his photo taken with more than 100 fans. During that trip, Cruise told the press he wanted to shoot the next installment in the action series in Japan.

The Association noted that Cruise is the first Hollywood star to receive this honor.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Cruise is annoying.

 

[steve12553]

I had enjoyed Tom Cruise's work and especially his choice of movies up until his public diagnosis that mentally ill people should not take medication and use diet and exercise instead. I feel it is very irresponsible for a charasmatic public figure to tell thousands or millions of people with chemical imbalances and a tendancy toward suicide to stop taking the medicine that is holding their illness in check. He carries enough weight to sway at least a few people who teeter on the edge. If you're not a doctor, don't diagnose! Beside him and Speilberg should be embarrassed by that pitiful remake of War of the Worlds. They had the ability and the opportunity to make it the way it should have been made.

 

[Nesacat]

I have never quite liked Cruise as an actor. He seems to play very stereotypical roles and War Of The Worlds was an embarassment. It could have been so much better.

Like Steve I lost whatever respect I had for Cruise when he began publically attacking people who took medication for mental disorders. That was absolutely unjustified and uncalled for. He's a very iconic figure and it is terribly possible that he might turn people away from the help they need.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I liked Risky Business. That's about it.

 

[carrie221]

He is not that good of an actor and his movies have been getting worse and worse in the last several years.

I liked the movie A Few Good Men but that is basically it.

 

[Whitestar]

I'd vote for dementia

I find Cruise very limited as an actor, all too often relying on standard mannerisms.

Define standard mannerisms.

Whitestar

 

[Whitestar]

I have never quite liked Cruise as an actor. He seems to play very stereotypical roles and War Of The Worlds was an embarassment. It could have been so much better.

Like Steve I lost whatever respect I had for Cruise when he began publically attacking people who took medication for mental disorders. That was absolutely unjustified and uncalled for. He's a very iconic figure and it is terribly possible that he might turn people away from the help they need.

Ditto!

Whitestar

 

[roddglenn]

I'm a huge fan of War of the Worlds and all its guises (the original book, the radio play, the George Pal 53 film and Jeff Wayne's Musical version). I thought Spielberg's version was ok as a film on its own - it had some good acting in (Cruise and Robbins mainly), a decent story (apart from some silly plot holes) and damn good effects. It was disappointing that they didn't keep closer to the original book, but it was a closer adaption than the 53 version.

Cruise is too vocal about Scientology and his beliefs, which pisses a lot of people off, but essentially he is a good actor. Minority Report wasn't bad, Last Samurai was brilliant IMHO, as too was A Few Good Men. Collateral was very good too. Vanilla Sky was a bit strange, but his acting in it was good. And his acting in Rainman was v good, as well as Hoffman's.

He has acted in some really crap films in the past - Days of thunder and the Color of Money being two big contenders.

I think he's showing a lot more versatility than he did as a younger actor, which is understandable. We all try to get better at what we do the longer we do it.

 

[manephelien]

I've seen some films where I liked Cruise a lot in A Few Good Men. He was okay in Rain Man, but seriously overshadowed by Dustin Hoffman. I haven't seen The Last Samurai, but I think his performance was astounding in Born on the 4th of July.

There's only one actor I detest to the point of refusing to see his movies, and that's Jim Carrey. I started boycotting him after seeing an interview where he kept pulling the same faces he always seems to, judging by the trailers I haven't managed to avoid...

In general, I don't much care about what political or religious opinions actors or other celebrities may have, but I think Cruise did cross the line with his performances on various talk shows, and with his comments about medicating mental disorders.

That said, Cruise has apologized for his comments and sent Brooke Shields a huge bouquet of flowers, when it turned out she was in the same hospital giving birth to her second child while Katie was in labor with her first.

I'm not keen on proselytizing religions in any case, and don't have much respect for Scientology, which was basically invented by a science-fiction author to show the gullibility of some people, on a bet. Too bad he ended up believing in it himself... John Travolta is a Scientologist too, and you don't get him going on about it in public.

One celebrity whose opinions I really despise, though, is Mel Gibson. He's had his brains addled by extremely conservative Catholicism, witness his spouting off anti-Semitic comments at police officers recently when he got arrested for drunk driving. His apologies afterwards have come across as a belated attempt to smooth things over. Being drunk only removes inhibitions to spout off when you would know better while sober, it doesn't make you rave about ideas you really don't believe in.