Tom Cruise: Germany’s Next Hope?

Leave it to Tom Cruise to giddily prove his arch-nemesis -- the liberal media elite, not Brooke Shields -- wrong. Despite providing fodder by way of a scary eyepatch and his generally manic mien, it seems Cruise is having the last cackle now. With its $20 million box office haul this past weekend, Valkyrie has been minted a certified non-flop. Mind you, that's not exactly a hit. So while this isn't a just cause to dish out the Scientology party favors, news of his renewed appeal in Germany should be, especially considering the lengths the Germans went to obstruct production of the film. While Germany's approval of the kooky thesp's portrayal of Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg may earn Cruise's handlers a few extra zeroes on their paychecks, being branded "Germany's hope" by director of this 2007 Oscar winner will no bring on the waterworks during the obligatory champagne toast at the Cruise-Beckham residence.