While Bryan Singer's direction is generally effective, I felt abandoned by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander's screenplay. It rushes along, moving pieces around the chessboard, never minding that the human element was lacking. I know, I sound like a broken record, but it is true. It's interesting to see how the pieces move, who likes who, who's trying to influence who, and how close they are to getting caught, but I didn't care.
As for the acting? Oftentimes it feels a bit over the top and overly dramatic. Leading the charge is Tom Cruise, who I have often felt was underrated as an actor. Here he takes the role to the edge and just keeps on going. It is intense, but in an actorly way — he's playing the character rather than being the character. The rest of the cast is similar in their approaches.
Bottom line. In the end we are left with a true-life thriller that moves along at a brisk pace, gets all the major plot points in and nothing else. It looks good, is not exactly boring, nor is it terribly exciting and shares some execution points with soap operas. I hoped for more, but got less.
Not Recommended.
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Article comments
1 - Urn
Von Stauffenberg was not a Nazi and never joined the Nazy party. Not all WW2 German soldiers were Nazy. The Waffen SS on the other hand, were certainly belonged to the Nazy hirarchy.