The REEL Addict 

Though I stand by what I said earlier about Tom Cruise’s role as an obese, hairy, foul-mouthed, bottom-line coveting megalomaniacal producer, I don’t quite get the wild acclaim he’s receiving for it, especially since the more I think about it, the more I realize something: the only reason it works is because we know its Tom Cruise.

If it were any other actor in the role it wouldn’t elicit a single laugh, and probably just make you squirm in your seat uncomfortably. It just boils down to a one-note comedic character using the “F” word a lot, and that kind of thing gets old fast. Even with Cruise it gets a bit old, in no small part because it’s a nail that keeps getting hammered, and because he’s done this before better, with actual acting and more substance in MAGNOLIA (“Respect the c—k, tame the c—t!”). Nevertheless, it works in TROPIC THUNDER because there is delight to be had in Tom Cruise acting completely contrary to his image (as an actor and otherwise) and doing it with such gleeful zany (dancing) relish. A great performance? No. A fun one? Sure.

I think audiences are responding to that fun, zany energy, even if the role really amounts to all sound and fury, signifying nothing except perhaps the revival of Tom Cruise’s career. Perhaps that’s the reason he’s getting so much fanfare though. I think it’s indicative of the fact that I years people have been secretly wanting to like him again (he is still one of the biggest movie stars in the world after all) but never could find a legitimate reason to do so until now. That’s probably why opening night it wasn’t Robert Downey Jr. but Mr. Cruise who was met with thunderous applause during the credits.

What they were applauding wasn’t a particularly great performance or character, they were applauding the return of Tom Cruise the movie star, not the creepy Scientologist guy.