So is Tom Cruise's cameo as fat, hairy studio head Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder the career revitalizer that so many claimed in advance it would be? Despite our nay-saying, it looks like the answer may be yes! Tropic Thunder has attracted mostly positive reviews — it's currently posting a Metascore of 74 — and many critics praise Cruise's performance. Some reviewers don't really love him, though, including New York's own David Edelstein — and even some of the critics who do love Cruise don't exactly describe him in glowing terms.

Nevertheless, it seems likely that this role should buy Cruise a little goodwill, at least until Valkyrie comes out. With that in mind, we've prepared Tom's For Your Consideration ad so that Paramount can just spend their time counting their money. Just replace our wire photo of Cruise with a legally obtained shot of him in full Lev Grossman makeup, send it to Variety, and you're ready to go!

Show Stoppers [NYM]
War May Be Hell, but Hollywood Is Even Worse [NYT]
"Tropic Thunder" [Salon]
There's Something About Robert Downey Jr. [Slate]