I don’t think he’s that bad an actor (he was awesome in Taps!), but I do think he’s one of these actors who does best when he’s acting most like himself. It’s not nearly so obvious with him as it is with some, like Alec Baldwin in Glengary Glen Ross or The Edge (both favorite movies of mine) or Alan Alda in Crimes and Misdemeanors. But Cruise really was pretty convincing in Jerry Maguire and Rain Man and I think that’s because Cruise knows how to act like a self-centered pretty boy.