I think the most telling comments about Cruise came in a review by Siskel & Ebert regarding one of his movies. One of the critics noted a main problem with Cruise is you don't really see or believe the characters he plays because it seems to always be a sort "Oh, look, Tom Cruise is playing a 'such-and-such'" rather than Cruise is actually living the character. The comparison was made how other actors, such as Hanks, Crowe, and others made you forget there was an actor on the screen and you saw and cared about a fully fleshed-out character...
Another comment made over the years regarding Cruise is he is a "lazy" actor, who only applies himself when he is faced with appearing alongside a much better co-star such as Nicholson, Hoffman, Hackman, etc. I think this is a rather fair assessment..
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