Sunday, January 13, 2013

Why I Won't Be Seeing The Movie

It was 66 degrees here on Friday and I spent the afternoon on the porch reading One Shot by Lee Child.  This book is the basis for the new movie "Jack Reacher," starring Tom Cruise as Child's 6'4", 250 pound hero.  Fans of the books were livid when the considerably shorter Cruise was cast as Reacher.  I had entertained thoughts about seeing the movie as I'm a fan of Child's series, but then the film got wretched reviews and I remembered that I have never really liked Tom Cruise and it would probably be best if I just read the book and stayed away from the movie.

I don't actually go to many movies featuring Cruise as I have a hard time detecting any acting by him when I do.  I just can't seem to look at him onscreen without thinking to myself, "That's Tom Cruise up there, pretending to be somebody else."  I did see "Valkyrie," on TV, and of course found myself thinking, "That's Tom Cruise up there, with an eyepatch this time, pretending to be somebody else."

One final note about Cruise.  I remember watching an interview with Christian Bale when the movie "American Psycho" came out.  Bale said he'd based his character, a smarmy smirking yuppy serial killer, on Cruise's persona.  I still laugh when I think about that.






4 comments:

  1. Interesting Carol. I have the same indifference for Cruise. I actually watched MI 5 ghost protocol with my sis last night and we were discussing how he is the same character in every movie he is in, except his volume level changes. in ghost protocol he barely speaks or its a whisper. in Jerry McGuire he yelled all the time...he just doesn't have the knack for character development nor does he seem to care. Jeremy Renner totally made MI 5 worthwhile.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're right-he's definitely a one-trick pony, and that trick is awfully old after dozens of movies. But then not acting has been very lucrative for him. Why change now?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The first time I saw Cruise in a film was "Top Gun." I was at the time assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, stationed in S. California, and to me he epitomized the smug, conceited, shallow, self-aggrandizing, a$$-hole fighter pilots I worked with to such a degree that I still can't stand him.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That may be the one movie in which he was perfectly cast! And speaking of Cruise, I can't get away from him. I went to see "Zero Dark Thirty" this week and who has a new movie coming out? Yeah, him.

    ReplyDelete