According to the New York Observer, excitable Scientology heavyweight Tom Cruise might have gone and redeemed himself with his upcoming turn in Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder:

… besides a high-powered cast, the movie has a secret, too, which Paramount and DreamWorks have been doing their best to keep under wraps until after the film opens: that a small, uncredited performance from Tom Cruise steals the whole show. In Tropic Thunder, Mr. Cruise plays Les Grossman, a bald, hirsute, foul-mouthed studio mogul with a penchant for hip-hop hip-swiveling moves. It’s an astonishingly funny and surprising supporting performance (especially considering Mr. Cruise’s last outing was in the dreadful, if well-meaning, Lions for Lambs) …

… Even two weeks before release, no one involved in the production—not Mr. Stiller or his co-writers, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, nor the producers or co-stars—are willing to talk about Mr. Cruise’s performance until after the film is in theaters. Mr. Cruise’s past directors won’t even talk. (It’s a lockdown!) But we’ll say it: Once again, Tom Cruise has managed to completely flip our perceptions of him upside down and inside out. It doesn’t spoil a thing to say that the film is worth seeing for Mr. Cruise’s performance alone, or that we hope this might usher in a new era for the strange, secretive actor. Could it be that, in fact, Tom Cruise actually gets it? Is it possible that Tom Cruise has a sense of humor about being Tom Cruise? Can we love him again without also feeling creeped out?

We say no, but we're looking forward to seeing him try. This is what Olympics years are all about.