Perhaps he can’t handle the truth (remember Colonel Jessep flipping his lid at the navy counselor in A Few Good Men?) but Tom Cruise could handle the Museum of the Moving Image’s salute ceremony just fine. Far from reprising his infamous Oprah-crobatics, the springy thespian met the bestowal of movie honors upon him with exceptional aplomb. Of course, as a precaution, all couches and similar furnishings had been removed from the dais at Cipriani 42nd Street. Besides, United Artists CEO Paula Wagner was there to keep a watchful eye on her moonstruck business partner. Last year, the two entered the UA wheelhouse together after Paramount’s Sumner Redstone had somewhat inexplicably cashiered the box-office wunderkind. As it turned out, getting fired wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Although Tom Cruise’s tenure as one of the world’s preeminent leading men has spanned a whopping quarter of a century to date, a (hypothetical) remake of Top Gun could easily feature the boyish 45-year-old all over again without causing the makeup crew to break much of a sweat. Say what you will about Scientology, it does wonders for the skin.

Most likely, his wife Katie exerts some rejuvenating effect on her man as well, but she hasn’t been around that long – just a wee bit longer, it seems, than the five hours it had taken her to finish the New York City Marathon two days earlier. Her striking transformation from sweaty chick in jogging slacks to glamour sylph in a dashing blue velvet gown commanded a good deal of attention in her own right. That big smile on the honored hubby’s face clearly conveyed that he didn’t mind sharing the spotlight in the least.

Needless to say, celebrities had rolled out in droves to salute their vaunted colleague: Ron Howard, Kenneth Branagh, Brian Grazer, Oliver Stone, Michael Pena, Barry Levinson, Barbara Walters, Julianne Moore, Ellen Barkin, Tim Robbins, Jerry Bruckheimer, and many others took turns unloading a piñata of Tom Cruise anecdotes and encomia upon the black-tie congregation, interspersed with clips from Cruise’s extensive cinematic oeuvre: Born on the Fourth of July, Collateral, The Color of Money, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, War of the Worlds, Top Gun, and, of course, the classic underwear dance sequence from Risky Business (Tom Cruise bouncing around on a couch in 1983!)

Finally, the honoree himself ascended the rostrum to deliver––from memory as much as from the heart––a fairly comprehensive acceptance address, and one could hear the proverbial pin drop as he recounted the hardships of his childhood, talked about his mom’s struggle to raise him and his three sisters after she divorced his abusive father, his first job as a paper boy, his brush with priesthood, and the power of hope to which he ascribes his ultimate success. Among the rapt listeners, and not only of kindred genetic material but also sporting a similar haircut, was said mom, Mary Lee Mapother. He concluded his speech with an emphatic, “I love you, Katie.” She completes him, as Jerry Maguire would have put it.

During the evening, Tom Cruise may well have shaken more hands and had more photos taken than most people have in a lifetime. Dispatching illimitable amounts of warmth and graciousness in all directions, he was visibly smitten with this publisher’s Armani black velvet and white fox balls cape. Indeed, amidst all the bustle around him, he still took the time to notice and comment upon a woman’s wardrobe. The man is a veritable one-man charm factory.

Bottom line, the charismatic superstar comes across as so utterly down-to-earth, it beggars belief that he actually holds a pilot’s license and loves to hang among the clouds.

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