Showbiz411

Tom Cruise really owes one to David Letterman. On last night’s show, Cruise appeared in three segments to promote “Jack Reacher.” This what was discussed: almost nothing. Indeed, Letterman was forced to talk at length about his young son, Harry, to make a connection with Cruise. Tom chatted for most of the show about his son, Connor, who’s 17, a deejay and an “actor.” (There’s never a mention about graduating from high school or going to college.)

There was a discussion of muscle cars, and a short clip from the movie showing a car chase. No talk of the movie’s actual content, premieres being cancelled, Cruise’s other children, his life, or anything beyond some tremendous guffawing. In fact it was the most guffawing since the days of Ed McMahon.

Tom used the word ‘analog’ twice–once to describe Jack Reacher, the other to describe the car chase. Even though it was all digital. ‘Analog’ is the word of the week. If he’d been on with Groucho Marx, there would have been a prize.

Hey: maybe they don’t need much publicity. “Jack Reacher” is at 80% this morning on rottentomatoes.com. Cruise hits Jimmy Fallon tonight for more laughs. And then “Jack Reacher” is in the hands of the gods.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.