Not a Cruize fan...usually

Rating: 7/10 (8 February 2009)

Having studied and written about the subject matter, I was compelled to see this movie, even with Cruise as the main character. I was sorry I couldn't get to it sooner, resigning myself to see in only on my smaller screen. Finally I got to the big screen. The first critique of this movie in this long line of them seemed merely Cruise-bashing to me. Perhaps I would not have gone had I read that first one, except for previous interest in the subject. I'm glad I went. Despite my aversion to the star, I was pleasantly surprised. I forgot that it was Tom Cruise. Rather I felt I was watching Von Stauffenberg. Even knowing the actor and the real person's stature's were different, my suspension of disbelief had a low threshold. The movie seemed almost "documentarian". Which I enjoyed. While I'm only rating it a 7, that is for the general public, who may not enjoy the subject matter as much as I. For me it was probably a 9. Not a blockbuster, but these types never seem to be. One serendipity item I did find amusing were the number of actors that were also in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, including Bill Nighy (Davey Jones). Interestingly enough there is a profile photo of Von Stauffenberg on Wikipedia, showing a strong resemblance to Tom Cruise. You can also see he was taller than Cruise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_von_Stauffenberg