Review: “Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography” by Andrew Morton

“The most important recruit ever is in the process of being secured. His arrival will change Scientology forever.”

This prophecy allegedly preached by worldwide Scientology leader David Miscavige in 1989 is just one of the many pieces of information about the subject of author Andrew Morton‘s book, “Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography.”

After his couch-jumping fiasco on Oprah and his verbal tirade over medication with Matt Lauer in 2005, Cruise’s personal and professional life went off the deep end. His films grossly underperformed at the box office, and his marriage to Katie Holmes and faith in Scientology became punch lines. Now, Morton has researched Cruise’s life to offer a raw depiction of what it’s like to be the “movie messiah” that Cruise is.

The hard part is trying to separate fact from fiction. Throughout the book, Morton uses information from people inconsequential to Tom Cruise’s life, which damages the credibility of his findings tremendously. Childhood girlfriends, disgruntled Scientologists and even someone claiming to be a Hollywood insider offer their anecdotes and dirty secrets on Tom Cruise.

Was he ever really dyslexic? Is he really gay? Was Emilio Estevez his best man? Does anyone really care? Some of these “unauthorized” secrets are so lame, a biography of a lampshade would prove to be more outrageous.

By putting literally every aspect of Cruise’s life under examination, the book suffers from being too thorough. Too much background information on supporting players in Cruise’s life evokes a strong sentiment of “so what?”

Still, the book shifts from a boring exposé to an entertaining and page-turning romp midway when one topic is introduced: Scientology.

Morton portrays this religious sect/cult as much crazier and violent than the “South Park” episode would have you believe. It is single-handedly the only point of real interest in a book that feels more like a tabloid than a life retrospective.

Tom Cruise is portrayed as a cold, brainwashed, controlling but brilliant actor whose life has become immersed with Scientology. We may never know the real Tom Cruise, but we have literature about him that can either be taken as fact or fiction.

But let’s not forget about the Tom Cruise we do know: the two-time Academy Award nominee who has starred in some of the biggest and critically acclaimed films of all time and who has built a legacy in Hollywood that will be imitated forever.

Authorized or unauthorized, fact or fiction, people are obviously craving the true story of Tom Cruise. But you know what?

Maybe we can’t handle the truth.