Les Grossman Is Comedy Gold

I enjoyed Michael Mann's underappreciated Collateral because (1) it proved that you can shoot a watchable, half-assed movie on digital video, and (2) it was a very un-Tom Cruise-like movie. Cruise was actually very good as the icy, sardonic hit man, Vince. Aside from Collateral, though, I've never been a big Tom Cruise fan because he always seemed to be doing, well, Tom Cruise.

That all changed when I saw Cruise as the spectacularly obnoxious Hollywood mega-producer Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. I didn't even realize it was Cruise until the end credits rolled up, but he was frickin' hilarious.  The character was a hit with audiences, and spawned a raft of Youtube videos highlighting Grossman's volcanic, foul-mouthed rants and his absurd dancing during the film's closing credits.

The Grossman character became such a cult sensation that MTV decided to tap into the zeitgeist by having this year's MTV Movie Awards produced by 'Les Grossman,' with Cruise reprising the corrosively crass character in one of the most wickedly funny shows MTV has ever done. Cruise totally stole the show. Take a look at the videos below and see why:

Les Grossman directs Tom Cruise in "Risky Business":


Les Grossman gives Robert Pattinson a little career advice:


Les Grossman casts Taylor Lautner's 'double':