Keanu, Cruise and Depp: The Rearrangment

Mission: Impossible: Fallout just passed 200 million this weekend. It stands a chance to become the highest grossing movie in the franchise--a franchise that looked dead after the disappointing returns of the 2006 3rd entry, as well as what looked to be an implosion in the career of star Tom Cruise. Cruise has managed to stay afloat, outlasting his contemporaries and even some of his successors. There's definitely a ceiling on how well a Tom Cruise movie can do these days--a large segment of the population still find him to be a dealbreaker. But it's an interesting contrast to Johnny Depp, who seems to be waning more and more by the day. Ask yourself--who would make you think "This movie probably won't be very good" first?

More than ten years ago, as Cruise was suffering his largest P.R. setbacks--the declining franchise, the couch jumping, the Scientology stuff coming out, Depp was on top of the world. His Pirates of the Caribbean movies were as successful as movies get. He was getting Oscar nominations, and showing himself to be quite the gentleman when he was invited to events. He was the cool, counter-movie star, who could be outside the box but still professional. And it seemed to be that he was the anti-Tom Cruise--people who hated Cruise but were huge fans of Depp seemed to be natural correlation. But circa this decade, Depp has a reputation for playing the same old characters, no matter how oddball they may be. He's said to a financial drain, even paying people to feed him his lines in an earpiece. His looks have generally declined and of course, there is the domestic abuse headlines. When people talk of him they talk of squandered talent, or raise the question of whether he was ever that good in the first place, or just gimmicky.

And then there's Keanu Reeves. When Reeves first came on to the scene, he was almost the emblem for "Actor who's way out of his league for almost any role. And is quite possibly mentally challenged in real life." Mad TV used to do some pretty savage parodies of him, now MTV alums reverently names their movies after him. John Wick 3 is probably the most anticipated sequel of the three actors, even thoigh "Part 2" made less than half of "Fallout", and little more than half of the reviled latest "Pirates" movie. Part of it is just being a Good Guy, which is pretty rare in Hollywood, especially with the shifting dynamics of the #MeToo era. Part of it is slowly building up a resume of movies that are pretty good, some even iconic, leading us to realize maybe Keanu Reeves is a bit smarter than we gave him credit for. Some of it is nostalgia, or reappraisal. (Point Break is a great example--considered pretty silly or competent when it came out. However, director Kathryn Bigelow's own solid resume, and her important place in history, hav)e given Point Break "autueur cred")

I think a lot of it is also reflected in the way we view Movie Stars. At the beginning of the millennium, the very concept of "movie star" wasn't cool. An aversion to glamour, to playing the same people over and over again, and to sort of giving an effort. In light of of recent developments, the idea of "method-acting" and "being a chameleon" has come to be associated with abusers, and people who just can't get over themselves. It's not to say actors can't play against type, ever--Cruise has done it in "Tropic Thunder" and Keanu Reeves in "The Gift", but the rejection of one's persona almost comes across as a sort of ingratitude and hubris in an of itself.

Cruise is certainly nobody's idea of a good romantic partner, but nobody can accuse him of being "lazy". He's somebody hellbent on making sure audience get the most polished and entertaining product he can give them. Maybe it's gratitude or enlightened self-interest, but he owns the concept of being a movie star, and this may turn off a large segment of the population, he retains patronage of people who want to see old-fashioned movies, and accept that artifice and maybe a bit of vanity are part of the deal. Reeves is somebody who does his own thing, but his tendency to challenge himself, even if it doesn't work out, has made him endearing. (And as mentioned, it helps he's genuinely humble about it) With Depp, it comes across as a half-hearted splitting the difference between "artiste" and "Hollywood phony". Selling out is fine and dandy, but it does seem to go a little more sour when the actor made his bones on being a rock star "Not like those other pretty boys" type. You are now like those pretty boys, except your movies aren't as good, and probably neither is your hygiene.

So in the Goodwill Olympics, we probably went from Cruise--Depp-Reeves, to Depp--Reeves--Cruise, and at its current standing, possibly Reeves--Cruise--Depp.

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The year was 2000. New Line Cinema had just released "Dungeons and Dragons", a move based on the popular role-playing game, which tend to use vaguely medieval settings. The cast was largely American, with a major exception being Jeremy Irons, as the villain. It included two people of color; Marlon Wayans, who admittedly played an almost minstrel-show level of comedic sidekick, and Kristen Williams, playing the first-ever onscreen Tolkeinesque elf. With bad acting, supbpar special effects, and rote storyline, the movie was a critical and commercial flop. A year later, New Line took another go at the fantasy genre with the first installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Though people often cite J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" as the biggest influence, Gary Gygax and company also cited influences from American authors such as Robert E. Howard and Frtize Leiber.