It’s got to be difficult to upstage Robert Downey Jr. in blackface, but apparently Tom Cruise does it in this summer’s action-comedy-Hollywood satire Tropic Thunder. The way the New York Times describes it, Cruise’s cameo as a studio executive sounds like the best thing in the movie. Especially if you’re familiar with the whole Cruise vs. Sumner Redstone thing.

At an industry screening Tuesday night of the forthcoming comedy “Tropic Thunder” from Paramount Pictures and its unit DreamWorks, Tom Cruise brought down the house with his surprise portrayal of a bald, hairy-chested, foulmouthed, dirty-dancing movie mogul of the kind who is only too happy to throw an actor to the wolves when his popularity cools.

The article goes on to claim that nothing we’ve seen Cruise do before can prepare us for the performance.

Mr. Cruise, 45, has been a hunk (“Cocktail”), a heartthrob (“Far and Away”), an action hero (“Minority Report”) and a series of extraordinary ordinary guys (from “Taps” to “War of the Worlds”). He has also done some comic scenes. In 2002, for instance, there was a bit as Austin Powers, in “Austin Powers in Goldmember.”

But nothing on his résumé predicted the rapturous reaction he received Tuesday night.

I don’t find it that surprising, though. Think back to that Goldmember cameo, which was pretty damn funny, even if the whole Hollywoodized sequence idea seemed to rip off the ending of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. And remember also how great Cruise is in Magnolia. Though not a cameo, his role in that is a rare non-starring “supporting” character, and such a small part allowed him to really break free of the Cruise-personality-as-protagonist stuff he normally gives us — not that I ever dismiss the fact that he does some of that stuff well.

Sure, Cruise is an easy target these days. But I think it’s unfair to act like we would never expect Cruise to pull off something brilliant. Then again, maybe the Times is simply suggesting that this is the most brilliant thing he’s ever done. Which means Downey’s blackface is also brilliant, because the article points out that it was as well-received as Cruise’s bit (though I still think it’s clear which of the two truly stole the show). Whatever the case, Tropic Thunder has just been raised up a notch on my list of most anticipated movies of the summer.