Ahhh..nothing is more satisfying than seeing a star fall from grace. Paramount Pictures announced Tuesday that they’ve ended their 14 year film production relationship with Tom Cruise. For what reasons? They specifically cited his erratic behavior as one. And I tell you, Doc couldn’t be happier.
In terms of his performances, I would say that I’ve liked 1 out of every 5 movies that he’s starred in - with “Minority Report” and “A Few Good Men” leading the way. He’s a “decent” actor - it’s hard to argue against this given that his movies consistently perform north of $100 Million at the domestic box office.
But that’s my problem - we tend to confuse star power with actual talent, and this acts to the detriment of the movies we see. Being a draw to the public is way more bankable than creative merit. This is the reason most pictures nominated for Best Oscar typically have less than stellar box office scores. It’s also the reason why we see Will Smith, Julia Roberts, and countless others providing the voices for animated films rather than professional voice actors that would actually give more life to the roles. As these stars continue to demand more and more for each film, the rest of the budget is squeezed - and we see film makers taking creative short cuts as a result.
In the case of Cruise, Paramount simply recognized a falling star. We’ve all seen him jumping on Oprah’s couch and his rants about Scientology. He has alienated his fans - and that brings serious implications to the bottom line of his films. The way Doc sees it, this means that studios will focus more on the stories rather than the stars. So kudos to Paramount for “dissing” Tom and making a good business decision. Now’s lets hope that they get back to the creative quality of “Forrest Gump” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.
You won’t catch me doing this much, but I have to agree with Doc. Star Power is dead. A name may sell a movie for opening week. But once the word gets out the movie wreaks of bad acting and a poor script - sales will undoubtedly slump. Let’s all try to remember that acting is about talent. Something the “Silver Screen” has been lacking of late.