TOM CRUISE

I am not a "fan" of any actor, actress, or theater person (other than my husband). I like some movie stars much better than others. Cruise is one of them.

I don't see many movies; rarely go to the theater; once a year I watch ice skaters; I avoid "dance." Even in my days as a performer, I avoided ballet and modern dance -- watching others distracted me from dancing the way I wanted to dance.

Tom Cruise, again, and again, creates a character that makes the story the movie tells, a story that affects me.

I wasn't aware of him before "Risky Business." Tom Cruise dancing around in his underwear tickled me. He was fun, very natural, a young guy I enjoyed meeting.

I didn't follow his career, but whenever he appeared in a movie preview, or a re-run on television, I'd find myself watching him, captured. (I watch/listen to the kitchen TV between chores, rarely stay glued to the screen).

Tom Cruise movies that stay with me, that I've seen more than once -- "Rain Man," "Born on the Fourth of July," "A Few Good Men," "The Firm." In these four films, the story, all the actors -- but especially Cruise -- were even more interesting on a second viewing. Other films -- well, I haven't been able to sit through any of his "Mission Impossible" movies -- (too much action), or his vampire movies (vampires are not my cup of tea), and "Vanilla Sky" was, for me, a bomb (I didn't like him in it, thought the plot was icky, confused.)

Yes, I saw Tom jump on the couch on the Oprah Winfrey show, declaring he was in love, and I cringed. Tom, chit chatting about Scientology, his marriage and divorce from Kidman, his verbal war with Brooke Shields, his marriage to Holmes and their baby -- during television interviews, I'm often repelled by what he's saying, and his overbearing, frantic manner.

B U T -- Tom Cruise, the actor, is such a believable strong, likable, often lovable masculine male -- the interviews, the whispers about him being gay, the annoying aspects of his public personality -- none of this affects or colors what I see and feel about the man on the screen.

Here's a short clip of his latest new movie that's playing now, "Knight and Day."




I think Cruise, in this film, is his usual good actor self. The look, the ease, the sense of a real person, a man is there, and worth spending time with. I like the character. The movie tricks, slam-bam stuff, the imminent deadly situations -- yiii -- the movie magic is mostly boring, and makes me restless. The ha-ha comedic style of the film doesn't work for me -- it seems over done. The lovely, wide-eyed Carmen Diaz, has gotten high praise (along with Cruise) for her work in this film, but I find her unreal, too-too much! Diaz doesn't hold me, Cruise does.

No I'm not a fan, but obviously I 'm prejudiced. I've got an instinct that's inbred in me by now, to really like the man, the actor Tom Cruise.