Another Decent Movie Ruined By Tom Cruise

Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2005)

I rather liked this film, and found Jamie Fox engaging - as he also was in "Ray." Like all Mann films the plot (what there is of it) moves quickly and the editing is superb. The premise is tight, and the way it is played out are (for the most part) adequate. One can't expect too much from these "machine" films.
But Tom Cruise continues to be a bland actor, always opting for the obvious performance, the expected reaction, the common gestures. There was almost no sense of either violence or (later) the slightest "frisson" of self-awareness. There were several scenes in which I could imagine a better actor really digging something out of this conflicted/repressed villain, making him a fully-rounded personality we could feel for if not admire. But Tom misses every opportunity to be anything more than the "gray wolf" hair job and the nice suit he is wearing (or is it wearing him?).
Yet he goes on - film after film, year after year - surpassing my expectations for such a pointless performer. i've seen him in several good films ("Jerry McQuire" comes to mind) in which he is close to embarrassing in key scenes which demand more than a ready smile and nice hair. He never transcends the material, rarely comes up to it.
Still, I think the film - as these sorts of films go - is worth watching, if only to see Jamie Fox giving his all. Michael Mann has shown what a good actor can do with one of his slick productions, when he cast James Caan in "Thief." There James drags all he can out of himself to give us a vulnerable but capable man. The contrast between the two actors says all that needs to be said about Cruise's "talents."