Making Movie Love

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a celebrity with a new movie to promote must be in want of free publicity. And Hollywood publicists have long known that nothing grabs the headlines like celebrity romances.

So it was hardly surprising to see Tom Cruise, whose new movie opens later this month, bouncing up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch the other day, yelling, “I’m in love! I’m in love!” The object of his ardor is Katie Holmes, a 26-year-old actress who (surprise!) also has a movie due out shortly. Doubtless TomKat, as they have been dubbed, will be together on the red carpets for the openings of their films (“War of the Worlds” and “Batman Begins”).

The charitable thing to do, of course, would be to wish all Hollywood couples happiness -- but it is difficult not to be skeptical about romances that tug so eloquently at publicists’ heartstrings.

Fans tend to be suspicious of any dalliances carried out in the public eye, particularly when both parties’ assistants rush to confirm details of their dates together. (On TomKat’s first date, gushed publicists, he served her sushi on his private jet over Los Angeles.) Both People and Us magazines, hardly hotbeds of cynicism, recently published polls showing that more than 60% of those questioned believe the Cruise/Holmes romance is a publicity stunt.

Instead, we are more likely to believe that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had a thing going precisely because it was so emphatically denied and because both parties went to great lengths to avoid the paparazzi. Then again, Brad and Angelina also have a new movie to promote, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which opens Friday. Maybe they just have more clever publicists.