New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Reagen Sulewski: See, I think this is arguably the most impressive performance of the weekend, given the subject matter and just how far Tom Cruise's star had fallen. If you compare it to Mission: Impossible, it's going to look short, but it was never trying to be that. But for a film that forced people to root for Nazis, or at least German soldiers, this is a huge performance. MGM not only dodged a bullet, they caught it in their teeth.

Daron Aldridge: Yes. It seems the calculated move to tone down the Scientology proclamations and even apologize about the Matt Lauer interview were successful in the public's eye.

Pete Kilmer: I think it's a strong opening for this project, which is a hard sell in and of itself especially with Tom's baggage. But with his turn in Tropic Thunder and attempt at a "mea culpa" for his interview with Lauer a few years ago, he could be on his way back.

Jamie Ruccio: I think MGM can be pleased in that it didn't bomb, which was the real worry here but they have to be disappointed. I think there were several mistakes made with this film.

First off is the release date. Why this movie wasn't opened during the summer is yet another baffling example of poor decision making when it comes to release date which I seem to yammer about weekly all of the sudden. I know that there are movies that come out that break a paradigm, Jaws opening in summer thereby inventing the summer blockbuster season being the prime example, but I wonder what MGM thought they were doing when they released this movie in December? The only reason I can see them releasing this movie when they did was to garner some critical praise and/or award consideration. But given the reception they were likely to get from any performance from Cruise, that had to be a misguided hope. He is, by the way, not nearly as bad as the early reviews suggest. He does little to elevate the material but he does little in the way of harm to it. At worst, he's a little overwrought and perhaps doesn't fully convey what a member of the Prussian military tradition may have been like. It's almost as though people were waiting to eviscerate the performance, which is unfortunate. It's a little petty given the subject matter which deserves just a modicum of respect.

Next was casting. While I don't think Cruise was harmful to the box office I don't think he was anything but a neutral influence on it. Had this been five years ago, I suspect the gross would have been improved by his presence. Right now he needs to do Jerry Maquire II and that's it. No action flicks, no historical dramas. The audience has fallen out of charm with him.

The other PR problems didn't help either.

While I don't think this opening is a disappointment in and of itself I think it ultimately is given when it could have been. MGM didn't catch a bullet with their teeth. They managed to wrestle the gun from their mouth and only lightly graze their foot.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5       6