Valkyrie
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 21, 2009
3/5VALKYRIE(M, 130 mins) FoxThere's no doubt Claus von Stauffenberg was a hero. The kind of hero who gets into the history books. The kind of hero Hollywood loves. He's a von so he has class. He hates the Nazis. Perfect. He's a family man. A decent officer. He wore a patch. And he saluted Hitler with his stump. Say no more. The surprise is, it's taken so long for someone like Tom Cruise to snap up the part. After all, he's no stranger to heroes and this one's actually real. But then Cruise is the least of the film's problems. It's slick but old-fashioned. It wants to be intelligent but isn't. And I'm sorry, but it's hard to picture Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard as German generals. Just as well then that the elaborate plot to kill Adolf turns out to be compelling entertainment.
© 2009 The Sunday Age