What makes you think Cruise looked like the idiot? Gee, he told the guy off non-violently, then moved on. Where's the "look like an idiot" part? Oh, the part where they squirted him in the face! They got THAT part whether he stood up to them or not.
Besides, he was smart enough to know keeping the perps engaged gave the authorities a chance to arrest them, which they rightly deserved.
We'll have to agree to disagree that engaging this guy in any way was a good idea. The 'right' thing to do is to walk away. Isn't it?