Tom Cruise gets a lot of flack these days. His supposed breakdown and frequent outbursts declaring a love of his religion have lost him favour with the public. His last film was not the great film it should have been. He's shorter than he appears on screen. There's talk that he's gay.
Get over yourselves people. The world of cinema would be a far less interesting place without Tom Cruise. Consider for a minute that with the exception of the Mission: Impossible franchise that this a man who has always gone after interesting roles over trying to be just a pin-up. Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Minority Report, Magnolia, The Last Samurai, The Color of Money, Collateral and A Few Good Men are films that need to be viewed if you have any taste in films.
Not only that but more often than not he is the reason to watch them.
Often he is complemented well by other actors and strong directors but without Cruise's magnificent range as an actor would we care as much about other actors' reactions. Often when actors are paired next to him they bring to the table career-best work that is rarely bettered (Jamie Foxx, Dustin Hoffman, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ken Watanabe, Demi Moore).
Not only that but he is not afraid of going ugly and reverting against his image. He can do ugly, selfish, downright unlikeable and mean. He has three oscar nominations under his belt and on at least two occasions deserved to win over the actual recipient, and on other occasions deserved nominations where there were none.
I hope Tom Cruise does return to his once rightful place as a strong leading man because without him would people swarm to see military courtroom dramas, ensemble cast pieces, samurai epics? Like George Clooney, Cruise is a man who will often do important films that people should see rather than films they want to.
What about scientology? So what? Views are entitled. Free-speech is a given. Let the man talk. If I want to talk about atheism I hope people won't ignore me because they have a different opinion.
Give him a break. Maybe one day I will get a call from him...I certainly will not turn him down.
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