Quite Good

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2009)

Col Stauffenberg (Cruise) has a plan to kill Adolph Hitler to save Germany in the 1940s during WW II. This is based upon a true story.
I would call this a history lesson except we already know the outcome and really didn't need to know the details. This 15th attempt to kill Hitler failed. End of story. Nice try, but they didn't get him.
The acting by the entire cast was terrific, but no Oscar performances. There were a couple good choreographed explosions and a plane strafing, good troop movements, and the details of the ambitious plan were kind of interesting.
The biggest thing in here is this: No one even attempted to speak German or English with a German accent and that was appreciated greatly because we understood what was going on. There were none of those, "waddi say?" moments. Quite enjoyable if the details of the plan were true or not. Didn't matter. This was a serious moment in history and the presentation was excellent.
What was missing? Suspense and tension. In real life, when this was actually going on, I am sure there were suspense and tension stretching to unbelievable lengths. But, not in here. Pity. That could have helped make this a little more than a history lesson and give us a real sense of dire consequences for the participants in the plan to kill Hitler.
The pace of the movie was too fast to achieve suspense and tension as the scenes did move at a somewhat rapid pace. But, there was a lot to tell and because of that no room for suspense or tension. Pity. Suspense and tension could have given this movie more importance. Double pity.
I wasn't going to watch this movie. The word was the acting wasn't any good and Tom Cruise spoke English in a German setting back in the day. HA! The acting all around was terrific and they all spoke English and because of that I understood and enjoyed everything. Oh, wait a minute, they did speak some German at times: Heil Hitler!
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Only one F-bomb was heard.