Cruise control

I think we can all agree that Tom Cruise has gone a little crazy lately. From his couch jumping antics on Oprah to his kooky Scientology beliefs, it's often hard to take Mr. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV very seriously. The last thing I am going to do is come out and try to defend Tom Cruise's actions or his state of mind.

But one thing I will defend is Mission: Impossible 3. And apparently, it needs some defending. Even though it is currently the top film in the country, the movie's box office total dropped 49 percent to $24.5 million this past weekend, which was barely enough to beat a freakin' remake of Poseidon starring Captain Ron. As of May 14, M:I-3 has made $85,100,142 domestically, which is more than you or I will ever see in a lifetime, but is still considered disappointing and it's a big drop off from what Mr. Mapother is used to earning at the box office.

This is disappointing to me because M:I-3 happens to be a pretty great film. While it lacks the memorable "suspended from the roof" scene from the first film, I think it is easily the best of the series. The opening sequence is absolutely fantastic and the whole movie keeps you thoroughly entertained. This is no real surprise since the movie was written and directed by J.J. Abrams, the brains behind Alias and Lost. Plus, the movie benefits from some great performances by Ving Rhames, Laurence Fishburne and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who does an outstanding job playing the villain.

There is one other great performance in the film ... and that is the one given by Tom Cruise. I know that might be hard from some of you to believe, but it's true. After I saw the film, I was talking to a friend of mine and she was surprised I loved the movie so much. She asked me if I thought the movie would have been better with Christian Bale or someone else playing Ethan Hunt and after thinking about it, I told her no. I like Tom Cruise in this role and, as crazy as he is, I really believe he is a good actor.

Need I remind you of his credentials? The man has been in his share of blockbusters - Collateral, The Last Samurai, Minority Report, Jerry Maguire, Interview with the Vampire, A Few Good Men, Days of Thunder, Rain Man, Cocktail,The Color of Money and Risky Business, just to name a few. (You'll notice I didn't put Top Gun in that list. That's because Top Gun is one of the most overrated movies of all time. I'm sorry if that is difficult for you to hear, but it's true. Deal with it, Iceman.)

As I've said before, I've never been a big fan of Tom Cruise as a person. Even before his recent antics, I've always found him to be sort of arrogant and annoying. But, I like him as an actor. He has a natural charisma that carries him through films and he has an ability to deliver lines in a way that they instantly become classics. "I want the truth!" "Show me the money!" "I'm gonna let ya' in on a little secret, Ray. K-Mart sucks."

So, I guess the question becomes - when did an actor's personal life become more important than his acting? Russell Crowe likes to throw phones at people's heads - does that make Gladiator any less awesome? In this week's Hobo Hollywood, Laura has a photo of Kiefer Sutherland with his pants around his ankles - does that mean I should boycott 24? (Okay, the Kiefer Sutherland thing might be a bad example because Jack Bauer without pants on is hilarious and actually makes me want to watch the show more.)

Celebrities have always done crazy shit, it's just in the past, the stories never made the papers. Jeff Chandler, whose silver hair and tendency to lose his shirt made ladies swoon in films like Broken Arrow and Merrill's Marauders, apparently liked to wear women's clothing. In her autobiography, The Millon Dollar Mermaid, Esther Williams says, "Jeff Chandler was standing in the middle of the bedroom in a red wig, a flowered chiffon dress, expensive high-heeled shoes and lots of makeup."

Bing Crosby reportedly had a pretty rocky personal life. Two of his children committed suicide - it's been reported that his son Lindsay killed himself on December 11, 1989, one day after watching his dad sing "White Christmas" on television.

Back then, no one heard about celebrities dirty little secrets. Things went unreported. And maybe that's the way it should be. We raise celebrities up onto these pedestals and we scrutinize their every move. Inevitably, they are bound to fall short of our high expectations.

Most likely, Tom Cruise didn't go crazy in the past year. He just finally stopped trying to live up to our expectations and behave the way we think he should. I think he's finally just starting to be himself and it turns out that deep down, he is one crazy dude.

I don't expect anyone to stop reading celebrity gossip columns (which would be hypocritical anyway, considering there is one on this site). I think we just need to do a better job separating the actor's personal lives from their on screen persona. Besides, M:I-3 kicks ass.

Random thought of the week:
You know, when you are a wrestling fan and you see a headline like "Goldberg to Host Radio Show," it's really disappointing when you click on it and find out they are talking about Whoopi.

Joel Murphy is the creator of HoboTrashcan, which is probably why he has his own column. He also has some really hot friends. You can contact him at murphyslaw@hobotrashcan.com.