Caffeinated Clint
Cruise and Stiller teaming up?
Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller are buddies. Unlikely buddies – considering the rather unflattering impersonation that Stiller does of Cruise; one that he’s done on the MTV Movie Awards and Saturday Night Live – but buddies all the same. As much as I like Cruise – yeah, I’m in the minority; I still think he makes good pics – I think his move to work with Stiller smells susser than the backseat of a ute.
According to TMZ, Cruise and Stiller are looking at starring in Shawn ‘The Flash’ Levy’s next film, “The Hardy Men”, a contemporary comedic take on the classic TV series “The Hardy Boys”.
“The Hardy Boys” detective novels date back to 1927, though a variety of ghost writers using the pen name of Franklin W. Dixon kept Frank and Joe Hardy perpetual teenagers. “The Hardy Men” would have them finally grown up, but up to their old tricks once more.
Now that sounds OK, but lets backtrack…. Shawn Levy is directing it. Yep, the guy responsible for Stiller’s worst film ever (well, besides “Envy”), “Night at the Museum”. Cruise has worked with the likes of John Woo, Tony Scott, Cameron Crowe, Oliver Stone, Steven Spielberg, J.J Abrams, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson… and now he’s making a movie with the director of “Cheaper by the Dozen”? OK, so Tony Scott and John Woo aren’t exactly Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg… but he’s never slummed ‘that low’.
Just doesn’t make sense – especially with all the films that Cruise and producing partner Paula Wager have in development. Or do they? Is that slate old… or possibly… fictitious? I dunno. I do know that Cruise shouldn’t be jumping on anything until the world gets to see him in the new Robert Redford film “Lions for Lambs”, that could be the one that turns it all around for him.
Stiller seems pretty dead keen on working with Cruise though – he actually asked him to star in his “Mission: Impossible” spoof, “Tropical Thunder”; a role which Stiller himself is now playing – and when you want something enough, you can usually make it happen.
