Cruise distractingly bad in `Valkyrie'

[StateOfTrance]

Much ado has been made about "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise as would-be Hitler assassin Col. Claus von Stauffenberg.

There is the release date, which has been moved around several times until finally being set for Christmas, the perfect time for a feel-good movie about killing Nazis. There's the marketing of the film: Is it a historical thriller featuring Cruise in an eye patch, or is it a straight-up action picture full of explosions? And then, of course, there is the Cruise factor itself — the fact that his very presence adds a layer of tabloid-friendly fascination.

Turns out Cruise is both the central figure in "Valkyrie" and its weakest link. He's distractingly bad in this, the iconography of his celebrity so strongly overshadowing his performance. He's just too powerfully contemporary. With his hard, flat American accent, he stands out in every single scene. And he's not a good enough actor to immerse himself in this kind of period piece, or allow us to do the same. (Then again, if he had affected a German accent — or a British one to blend in among his co-stars — he would have invited derision for that, too. Maybe the guy just can't win.)

It's too bad, too, because "Valkyrie" looks great. With its impeccable production design and German locations — including the Bendlerblock in Berlin, where Operation Valkyrie began and where members of the anti-Nazi resistance were executed after it failed — it feels substantial, never CGI-fake, and it moves fluidly. No one ever doubted the ability of Bryan Singer, director of the first two "X-Men" movies, to make a solid, energetic actioner. But — and this is going to sound like more piling on — Cruise undermines the potential of "Valkyrie" at every turn.

He's outclassed and outmatched by every member of the strong supporting cast, any of whom would have been more believable as Stauffenberg: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp and Bill Nighy as fellow German officers, even Eddie Izzard, who's a unique and unexpected choice.

Then again, the script from Christopher McQuarrie, who won an Academy Award for writing Singer's breakthrough film "The Usual Suspects," never fully fleshes out his motivations. (Nathan Alexander is a co-writer.) Stauffenberg is depicted as a loyal but wounded army officer who loves Germany yet finds himself increasingly horrified by Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

But we never get a sense of inner conflict, of the doubt he may have felt in betraying his duties, of the fear he may have faced in putting himself and his family in danger by going through with the plan. When Stauffenberg states with clenched-jawed, hushed certitude, "We have to kill Hitler," we'll just have to take his word for it that he feels strongly about the task he's about to lead.

He joins the German Resistance for the last of several failed plots to take out Hitler, scheduled for July 20, 1944. Stauffenberg was to plant a bomb and then head a regime change known as Operation Valkyrie, based on Hitler's own emergency plan to keep the government running in case of his death.

As we all know from the start, that didn't happen — Hitler killed himself a year later — and surprisingly, Singer never generates enough suspense to make us forget that as we're watching. The whole effort feels rather smoothly detached. The actual bomb-orchestration sequence is well-staged and has a few breathless moments, but a scene that's supposed to be pivotal and poignant — when Stauffenberg reluctantly thrusts his partially amputated arm in the air and declares "Heil Hitler!" — instead comes off as laughable.

"Valkyrie," a United Artists release, is rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language. Running time: 120 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

[Bekim...]

never saw tom cruise "bad" in any film in 25 years

[Eleni]

[metfan85]

never saw tom cruise "bad" in any film in 25 years

bro Tom Cruise can't play a NAZI. thats terrible casting.

u can picture this guy playing a nazi general who was to take out a mad dictator

[StateOfTrance]

never saw tom cruise "bad" in any film in 25 years

I agree, however I could imagine that this part was possibly too much of a stretch. I definately want to see the film and I had just assumed that he would be good in it, but I do think its possible that he couldn't pull it off as well as somebody else might have.

[eL FryEdo]

Tom cruise = #1 actor all time

[Bekim...]

what film was he bad in?
tom cruise can play a nazi they are telling a story...
the hunt for red october remember that movie? none of the actors were russian or did russian accents
what film was tom bad in name one

[Eleni]

what film was he bad in?
tom cruise can play a nazi they are telling a story...
the hunt for red october remember that movie? none of the actors were russian or did russian accents
what film was tom bad in name one

are you one of his lovers Beck?

[eL FryEdo]

Bek and his fellow wisconsiners get together over wine and cheese, watch tom cruise fils and discuss them on a monthly basis

[Bekim...]

Bek and his fellow wisconsiners get together over wine and cheese, watch tom cruise fils and discuss them on a monthly basis

I'm from bensonhurst Im not from wi I own a business in wi.

[Bekim...]

are you one of his lovers Beck?

[Eleni]

[eL FryEdo]

I'm from bensonhurst Im not from wi I own a business in wi.

i understand that ... but you currently reside in Wi.

[chromeheart]

he is the only character without a fuckin accent.. fuck him...

heil der fuhrer

[Bekim...]

he is the only character without a fuckin accent.. fuck him...

heil der fuhrer

none of them have german accents

[RICKY]

State of Trance is that a stoeln review or yours?

[StateOfTrance]

I dunno, what do you mean exactly?

By CHRISTY LEMIRE
The Associated Press
Monday, December 22, 2008; 8:45 AM

Is that the answer your lookin for?