1) I only just finished my review and posted it, and already I feel like I didn’t get at all the goodness there, and that I need to see it again and think about it some more. So I’ll probably do that, and maybe write something else later in the summer.
2) I feel bad that I constantly, in my head, malign Tom Cruise and then am always surprised by how much I like him in movies. Sorry, Tom.
Oh, and a third thing:
3) Are you wondering why the film opens a week earlier in the U.K. than in the U.S. and Canada? Usually we have to just guess about these things, but the head of Warner Bros. PR in London said at our screening last night that they wanted to get ahead of the World Cup. Those matches don’t start till June 12, but I guess this way they get two solid weekends, not just one, in before everyone is distracted by the sportsball.
I find this instinctual dislike of Tom Cruise is quite common and often I have to overcome it with my friends just to get them to see his movies. I understand being put off by what Cruise has done, but the actor is not the only part of the film. And if you want to watch sci-fi, apparently there is a good chance you are going to end up with Cruise.
Heh, yeah, I’ve noticed that a lot of people hate Tom Cruise right before they go to yet another of his movies. I gave up sometime around “Interview with a Vampire” and have unabashedly gone to see him ever since. No matter how crazy he is. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but an article I read once (possibly on cracked.com) pointed out that for all the reports of crazy, it’s never said that Tom Cruise is lazy, or diva-ish, or difficult to work with.
I’m a Tom Cruise fan all the way, baby. Pretty sure there isn’t a bad Tom Cruise movie. There’s a couple “just okay” ones, but most of them are highly watchable.
Big fan of Tom Cruise the Movie Star. Not so much a fan of Tom Cruise the Person.
We don’t have to be a fan of the person, though. All that really matters, from our perspective, is the work.*
*I suppose there are probably a few reasonable exceptions to this. If an writer, musician, writer, etc, makes a lot of money making art that isn’t objectionable but then uses his/her influence and wealth to do something hideous, there may be an ethical aspect to deciding whether one should continue to support his/her work. But I don’t think there’s much that applies in this sense to Cruise, unless one objects to his support of Scientology.
Ha! Yes, that. #2. That’s me too.
I went into MI4 expecting to dislike Tom and enjoy the rest of the cast, but he won me at least half-way over.
Actually it helps you appreciate this movie more if you don’t like Tom Cruise that much going in because otherwise, it would be difficult to put up with all the awful things his character goes through during the movie. Besides, it’s good to see Cruise’s character actually earning the audience’s respect and affection for a change instead of the usual “having us at ‘Hello'” bit.