Movies: Is Tom Crazy in Love?

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So you'd think he would know how to project--and protect--himself in public. His greatest strength as an actor was that he played Tom Cruise brilliantly. As a Mission Impossible hero and a Collateral villain, he got audiences to feel the pleasure he took in being watched. And as an interview subject, he took care to be amiable but reveal little. Now he's playing the impulsive adolescent and the dispenser of stern advice. He slammed doctors for giving kids Ritalin and criticized Brooke Shields, the star of Cruise's first film (Endless Love, 1981), for her brief dependence on prescription drugs. Her response: "Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them."

Moguls will endure fewer of Cruise's crotchets if his box-office numbers slip. His movies still gross $100 million or more in North America, but the profits are shrinking. Not that there's much competition; the only actor whose films regularly gross higher is Will Smith. Nothing lasts forever, however, including film stardom. And Cruise is mistaken if he thinks he can reach younger moviegoers by acting their age.

Or maybe he's experimenting with a new form of postmodernist performance art, or put-on, to get back in the spotlight. "People haven't been talking about Tom Cruise like they have in the past couple of weeks," says veteran publicist Liz Rosenberg. "I mean, [his public affection for Holmes] is a little freaky to watch, but that's what enthralls people about it." As an admiring publicist put it, "As usual, Tom has the media exactly where he wants them." That's for sure. All he did was spend an hour with Oprah--and, look, we wrote a page about him. --Reported by Lina Lofaro/New York and Desa Philadelphia/Los Angeles