But now Cruise seems to be in the position of Top Gun once again. Consider:

• Though he wasn't even recognizable in the part, he just scored a Golden Globes nomination for his incognito supporting role in Tropic Thunder.
• His 29-year-old wife Katie Holmes' turn in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons is the box-office smash of the year, and the couple's inevitable conquering of New York is proceeding right on schedule.
• Even his two-year-old daughter Suri is winning awards, scoring Top Tot honors from Forbes magazine.
• Not to mention how incredibly adorable Suri is. (Okay, so that's a double mention.)
• His new movie, Valkyrie, is already generating tons of buzz, and during a recent publicity blitz through Canada he was reminded just how enduring his acting legacy is.

Alas, Blake Fielder-Civil could only hope to be faring as well as Cruise is these days. Among the troubles to befall the 26-year-old ne'er do well, best known for his antics with singing train wreck Amy Winehouse:

• His stormy-yet-passionate marriage to Winehouse is officially kaput.
• He basically admitted to ruining Amy's life by turning her on to drugs in the first place. The cad!
• After failing a drug test, he's back in the pokey to serve out his sentence for perverting the course of justice, and might not see freedom again until 2010.

Better luck in the future, Blake! But don't despair; as grim as it might seem in prison, the outside world can be a pretty frightening place too.