Not a bad film, but a disappointment

Rating: 7/10 (26 January 2009)

It is no secret to anyone with a passing knowledge of 20th century history that Hitler did not die on the 20th July 1944, and so the suspense of Bryan Singer's new thriller about the assassination plot which failed on that date seems to be irreversibly compromised.
It is strange therefore to report that there is some tension through the film, even though the ending is never in doubt. However, it is still a failure. There is a feeling with this film, much like Ed Zwick's "Defiance", that it should be better than it is  that this story merits a better film than the one it has ended up with.
That is not to say that this is a bad film. The quality of the film-making is excellent throughout and there is little to complain about. It looks good, sounds good and is generally well put together. A lot has been made of the lack of continuity with the accents but, despite the fact there are occasional slips into German twangs from some, there is no distraction in the diversity and it is far less irritating than the thick accents which have become the norm in many films.
The acting is very good. A number of liberties have been taken with the characters to make them heroic (von Stauffenberg, for instance, was in fact a raging anti-Semite), but there are still interesting figures here. Cruise's von Stauffenberg quickly becomes a fairly dull, generic hero (the fault of the writing and not the acting), but the outstanding supporting cast, which includes Ken Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Christian Berkel and Thomas Kretschmann, always make the film watchable. There is a particularly impressive performance from Bill Nighy, whose General Olbricht is probably the most interesting character in the film.
But the film never rises above the realms of simple, solid entertainment. It is by no means a dull two hours. In fact, the time flies by, but this never becomes truly thrilling. Perhaps it would have been better to have created more interest in the peripheral characters rather than the dull von Stauffenberg. One feels that there would have been more tension if you cared a bit more about the characters.
3 Stars out of 5