Down with the Führer

Picture it: Germany, 1944 – a police state where everyone’s moves are watched, and honor and justice have been subverted to within an inch of their meaning.

The country is in the mustachioed evil grip of Adolf Hitler, but a group of men deep inside the highest reaches of power have decided to take action at last, and carry out the operation that gives this Bryan Singer-directed movie its title.

Based on the true story of Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (played by Tom Cruise) and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants known, Valkyrie opens today in the midst of some bad buzz that’s quite undeserved. This is an effective suspense thriller.

No, you needn’t be a history buff to know the movie’s outcome – Spoiler Alert! (Not!): von Stauffenberg and his men failed to 86 Hitler.

After all, you knew what was in store in Titanic.

The thrill of Valkyrie comes from seeing how and why the plot was conceived, understanding how it was put in motion, and ultimately, from hoping against hope that it works.

And now, a disclosure: I didn’t see the end of the movie because the fire alarm at the press screening I attended earlier this month was pulled as everything began to unravel on screen. So although I know how the movie was to end, I don’t know how Singer translated it on film, or how Cruise played it.

I can tell you that Cruise, a controversial casting choice, plays von Stauffenberg, a loyal officer who served his country all the while harboring a desire that someone would find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany were destroyed, the best way he can (heroically), especially in the face of a strong group of supporting players (Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann, and Eddie Izzard).

Yes, he comes off a little, say, amateurish surrounded by all these accents, but y’ know what: He’s Tom Cruise, and it’s about time we remembered that.

This movie may not put America’s Golden Boy on top, but compounded by his terrific cameo in last summer’s Tropic Thunder, Valkyrie will sure help us forget any couch-jumping shenanigans past, and be more open to what’s to come.

My Rating ***

Photo: United Artists.