Valkyrie (Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branaugh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terrence Stamp) — In the last two years of World War II, the war turned started to slowly turn against the Nazis, thank God. Hitler became increasingly maniacal, desperate, evil, paranoid, and insular. In a not-very-well-chronicled story brought to life here, a small (but growing) group of high-ranking officers and public officials concluded that Germany’s long-term interests were being undermined by Hitler’s go-for-broke strategy that would likely result in a devastated Europe. While there had been a number of attempts to assassinate Hitler, none had come close to success until an elaborate plot was hatched under the leadership of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a decorated war hero of the Reich who had been wounded in North Africa, losing an eye, half an arm and several fingers. Played by Tom Cruise in a mature ensemble performance that leaves both the action-driven Mission Impossible and character-driven parts behind. At 46, Tom is beginning to show his age a bit and seems increasingly comfortable doing it. Director/writer/producer Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns) seemed obsessed with both the story and bringing it to the screen, which is the failing of the movie. Not only does the film have a self-important feel, it gets bogged down in the execution of the plot and not in the characters’ motivations or the intricacies of the plot. Instead, it takes too long to get to the aftermath of the bombing of the high-level meaning, which is where the true drama of the movie unfolds. That helps a lot even though the audience knows where the movie is going (unless, of course, you know nothing about the end of World War II).
Cruise is very good here as is the understated and unexpected performance of Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Notes on a Scandal) and the return to film of the amazing actor, Kenneth Branaugh. Opening this movie on Christmas Day made little commercial sense. After all, Hitler is hardly holiday fair, but it means that it’s available for the artier crowd and for Oscar consideration, of which I think it will get none in the major categories. As a World War II buff, I enjoyed the story and learned quite a bit. But with almost a dozen movies opening in the past two weeks, this one just doesn’t fit, even if it has Tom Cruise in it.