Cruise has thrived in a risky business

November 05, 2007 The negative press was overwhelming: slash-and-burn attacks for leaping on a sofa, jabbing a finger at NBC's "Today Show" host Matt Lauer, blasting antidepressants -- and even for marrying a woman several years his junior. Now that this work is being recognized by the Museum of the Moving Image as it honors Cruise with its 23rd annual black-tie salute Tuesday, adding him to the ranks of Sidney Poitier, Robert De Niro and Steven Spielberg, it's high time to recognize just what Cruise does so well. "He's peerless at being a movie star," says critic Leonard Maltin.

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