I was at a screenwriting conference last summer and some 20 year old kid asked the speaker(a production company exec.) if, when he sold his script, he would have any control over who starred in it. "Cause I would be really bummed out if Tom Cruise showed up in one of my films".
I'm not going to explore the layers of asininity in that comment. Not that I'm defending Cruise, I understand what that egotistical young student was talking about. Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise and he is a risk to overwhelm any film he's in. When the film's bad, Cruise can't save it. When it's right for him, he can propel it. Cruise is far from being the most nuanced of actors, but few can match his energy when he gets rolling.
After almost imploding because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, Cruise is supposedly in comeback mode, thanks to his role as a bald producer in "Tropic Thunder". I saw it, liked it, it was cute. But the Hollywood publicity machine has tried to elevate that bit part to the stuff of legend. It wasn't.
So how does Cruise do in "Valkyrie"? He does fine, thank you.
The film details the true failed assassination attempt of Hitler and subsequent coup. Cruise's character plants a bomb, believes it kills Hitler, and sets in the overthrow motion. But he's mistaken, Hitler isn't killed, and what looks to be a successful overthrow of his regime, falls rapidly apart.
This reveal is well done and is the main device of this engaging action conspiracy film.
The acting from top to bottom is first rate: Kenneth Branagh,Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard and Tom Hollander. Thankfully, Cruise, although clearly at the center of things, doesn't overwhelm the rest.
At its best, Valkyrie is intense, transporting stuff. There's a few problems with pacing, it moves in fits and starts. The whole thing would have probably worked better if it built from the beginning and ratcheted up the tension all the way through. Instead it builds to a hastily withdraw assassination attempt midway through, has to back out of it, calm down and then build up again to a second attempt, this time carried through.
Where does this movie leave Cruise in this point of his career? He needs to drop all the Scientology preaching, production company in-fighting, Oprah couch-hoping, and spend his time looking for the right projects where he can lend his brand of passionate energy. He needs to just be an actor and quit distracting us with his erratic behavior.
"Valkyrie" is pretty good stuff. We believe him. It's been a while.
Rating:
Plot: 27- could have used a little better pacing, but ambitious and well done
Presentation: 26- does its job well
Character: 27- Character actors shine. Tom fits in.
