Amazing and highly under-rated film

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2009)

With the exception of Top Gun and his cameo at the beginning of Austin Powers III (hysterical, by the way), I've never been a real Tom Cruise fan. I don't "not-like" the guy but he never seemed to be a real draw for me. So it was with some trepidation that I watched this movie.
All I can say is unbelievable.
I was completely blown away by this movie and his performance. To say that his performance, and all performances for that matter, was merely "convincing" does not do this movie justice. Suspend the notion that all the actors had to have a German accent and this movie will have you totally involved from the opening credits to the very very end. Having a B.A. in History, I enjoy watching "period" pieces based on fact and picking them apart for their inaccuracies and I ultimately grade them on how much they actually get right. (The movie Pearl Harbor failed miserably. It was December 7th and we were attacked by the Japanese. Other than that...)
This movie gets flying colors. The atmosphere was set so convincingly paranoid and apprehensive you couldn't help but feel that you were there in the room with the conspirators at times. And in the few scenes with Hitler - and one amazingly creepy phone call near the end - the tension is palpable. Well done. VERY well done!