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Did Tom Cruise’s humbling before Oprah Winfrey improve his Oscar chances? : Gold Derby by Tom O’Neil : The Envelope – Los Angeles Times
Posted on: May 6, 2008
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There something’s weird about the timing of Tom Cruise groveling before Oprah Winfrey this past week. Why now? I think it’s no coincidence that it comes just a month or so after the news that the release of his next big pic, “Valkyrie,” got bumped from this fall to next spring — and therefore out of Oscars competition.
Sure, Tom Cruise appeared on Oprah’s show to celebrate his 25th year in films. But if the powwow had been, say, two months ago, back when “Valkyrie” was still skedded to launch the next Oscar derby, I don’t think we would’ve seen Tom so eagerly gobble up a dozen humble pies. He would’ve done damage control for his ole couch dance, yes, but in the past few days we’ve witnessed a surrender that has, I’m convinced, an underlying Oscar message.
In the past, Cruise was the kind of guy who never backed down, even daring to bully poor Matt Lauer on the “Today” show. But at Oprah’s knee these past few days, he caved on every point. He admitted that he shouldn’t have badgered Matt about kids taking psychiatric medication. Parents should make that decision for themselves, Tom now says. He shouldn’t have attacked Brooke Shields either. He regrets that his Scientology videos were “taken out of context.” Etc. Etc.
Just eight weeks ago “Valkyrie” was still skedded to launch Oscar derby season this fall and confident Cruise was poised to make another run for the gold he’s lost three times (“Magnolia,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Born on the Fourth of July”). But I think Tom learned a scary lesson over the past two months and he saw it through Oscar’s eyes.
At first glance, “Valkyrie” looks like pure Oscar bait. It’s based upon a real, heroic person during wartime — even better, one with a handicap (that eye patch) — being the story of a Nazi officer who schemed to bump off Hitler. Seems like a perfect vehicle for a superstar ridiculously overdue for a chunk of academy gold, eh? (CLICK HERE – read MORE!) Early buzz within United Artists was that the actual film by wunderkind director Bryan Singer (who got an Oscar for Kevin Spacey in “The Usual Suspects”), was great, so it seemed like a no-brainer to sked its release at the start of the derby season.
But back in February there were early warning signs of trouble. At the end of the Razzies ceremony, “Valkyrie” was not only flagged as a film widely expected to be in the running next year, but the audience howled and cheered when a pic was shown of Tom Cruise donning that eye patch. (READ MORE)
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