The Cruiser vs The Fuhrer

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2009)

Well, its finally here. For ages now much of the press has rubbed their hands with glee as they looked forward to trashing this pet-project from the Cruiser. Cruise V Hitler after all had TURKEY written all over it. Even I had a laugh as I waited to see the wee man's attempt at appealing to the greater German public after they slammed Scientology and branded it a cult. That of course is another debate all together. On to the film. Its not nearly as bad as many people had hoped or expected, some of it is rather good in fact. From what I can tell it is historically accurate in its depiction of the failed Von Stauffenberg plot to assassinate the Fuhrer in July 1944. The recreation of Hitler's Wolf's Lair and the Berghof is picture-perfect and adds much realism to the film and the direction from X-Men's Bryan Singer keeps things nicely bubbling along. The film's biggest problem though is Tom Cruise as the aristocratic Claus Von Stauffenberg. He simply fails to pull it off and comes across as a cheesed off - dare I say it, "Little Hitler." The role needed to reflect the Bavarian Count should've gone to someone like Liam Neeson or perhaps Christian Bale. Strange and uncomfortable casting permeates this film: the presence of Eddie Izzard as a communications officer at the Wolf's Lair is totally out of place and much of the cast also fails to convince. The best performances come from the European actors ,Thomas Kretschmann, Christian Berkel and the gorgeous Carice Van Houten who was last seen dodging more Nazis in Black Book. Sadly not enough is seen from them as the British with Cruise in-tow take centre stage. If this film had been made by the people behind Downfall it could have been so much better and as is, it remains something of a missed opportunity (no pun intended).