Title: Don't shoot the messenger
Product review: Tom Cruise as an actor is simply a messenger. As a producer, he is creating the message along with the director and screenwriter. And the message conveyed, the messengers appear 2-dimensional, and in Cruise's case, certainly not wanting to cheer for.One reason for this is Woo's style. It's weird that bullets never ran out in Hard Boiled and it managed to be quite delirious and original. One can sense the angst and uncertainty of early 1990's Hong Kong where its citizens seemed to ignore the looming imminence of the Chinese takeover of the city.Yet when Cruise's character almost never gets a scratch, he seems too cocky. Too smooth, and therefore nothing we can latch on to identify and feel for the hero. I found the toys in Toy Story/Toy Story 2 more charming and believable. They seem better "actors" than Cruise can ever be in this forgettable movie (only this -- he is a great actor in his other films).
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