‘Valkyrie’ well worth your time (4/5)

Valkyrie

Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minute
Rating: PG-13 for violence and brief strong language.

Tom Cruise. Scientologist. Crazy guy who jumped all over Oprah’s couch. And, oh yeah, an actor.

Cruise had the unfortunate luck of being pigeon-holed as a crazy man rather than being seen as a good actor. Apparently, one cannot be both.

Yes, he’s got a “different” religion and may be a bit eccentric. Can we get over it now?

Despite his oddities, Cruise hits his mark dead-on in “Valkyrie,” directed by Bryan Singer (“X-Men,” “Superman Returns”) and written by Christopher McQuarrie (”The Usual Suspects”) and newcomer Nathan Alexander.

The under-estimated “Valkyrie” recounts the true assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) on July 20, 1944.

Singer does well to downplay Hitler’s character and give the majority of screen time to developing von Stauffenberg and his cohorts. While some may feel disappointed about a German-centric WW-II era movie with scenes of Hitler being few and far between, it actually lends to a more realistic perspective. After all, the majority of Germans, and even of the Nazi Army, would have seen Hitler only in bits and pieces. The real power behind Hitler, both in reality and in the movie, was his incorporeal presence in everyday German life, made notable when von Stauffenberg witnesses his two young children, presumably members of the Hitler Youth, marching and saluting.

Along with Cruise, the star cast includes notable actors such as Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and, oddly, Eddie Izzard (whom I have a difficult time taking seriously with images of the stand-up comedian’s eye makeup and flashy outfits).

When von Stauffenberg loses a hand and an eye during a British raid in Tunisia, he is taken back to Germany where he is recruited by General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh), whose recent assassination attempt went awry, into the German Resistance.

During a secret meeting of the Resistance, von Stauffenberg discovers that there is no plan following Hitler’s assassination.

Operation Valkyrie was a method to be used in the event of a national emergency which would ensure Nazi control. The Resistance, under von Staffenberg’s direction, redrafts the plan in order to use it against Hitler and seize control.

A weak point in “Valkyrie” is that Singer does not give the audience time to decipher who is who in the convoluted plot. Stauffenberg and Hitler are, appropriately, readily identifiable, as are a few other players, yet many names and roles become lost.

Too, Singer decided against having the multinational cast use German accents, rather encouraging them to use neutral ones for clarity, sacrificing historical accuracy for an easier-to-follow (in terms of listening, anyway) film.

While the first half of the two-hour movie is steeped in quick introductions that become lost in translation, the second half is well worth the wait. The assassination attempt itself is a gripping scene and the final hour passes by quickly.

While many will balk at the idea of watching a movie where they “already know how it ends” — and, frankly, if you don’t already know that Hitler survives you should probably be picking up a book instead of watching movies — the movie is not about a “surprise ending.” Cruise’s character, along with the other plotters, is caught in a question of loyalty: Leader, or country? The movie garners its interest from gaining another perspective on Hitler and the war. And, what’s more, it’s based on a true story, leaving you to wonder what you might be capable of in the same situation.

4 of 5 stars