I recently saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in IMAX. It was a highly entertaining action film. I'm so glad I saw it on the massive IMAX screen. There were beautiful shots of Russia and Budapest (it felt like a National Geographic special at times); and the IMAX screen and sound system really shined during the action sequences.
But I didn't really care about seeing the movie. I was perfectly willing to see it, but only after seeing the new Sherlock Holmes movie, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If Mission Impossible had left theaters before I had a chance to see it, I would not have even noticed.
I blame Tom Cruise.
In May 2005, Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah's couch while declaring his love for Katie Holmes. I don't follow celebrity gossip, but it was impossible to ignore the couch-jumping incident. It creeped me out.
This is a shame, because (a) Tom Cruise can really act and (b) Tom Cruise tends to pick good scripts. If he's in a movie, my involuntary reaction should be "I want to see that!" But ever since the jumping-on-the-couch incident, I have the opposite reaction.
Since Tom turned Oprah's couch into a trampoline, I've only seen two of his new releases, Valkyrie and MI. Both were excellent. Valkyrie made me think about movies, history and storytelling for days. MI was the ideal action film. For these movies alone, I should be able to overlook Tom's crazy couch past.
But I'm not there yet. Maybe I just need more time to heal. In the meantime, I will just have to keep reminding myself that Tom Cruise the Couch Jumper is different and separate from Tom Cruise the Actor.
Why did he have to jump on that couch??
