Not Quite Lift-Off

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2008)

Just saw this movie and felt that it took way too long to gather impetus and real drama. That's the difficulty in filming something--a coup--that until the moment of realization is just plotting on paper and a lot of talk. If the first half had been cut back significantly you could have had a really tight thriller instead of a turgid first half and a slowly gathering thriller of a second half. I blame the director and the editor for this. In this case, a 90 minute movie would have been great! But once Cruise was finally on his way to kill Hitler the film really kicks into gear, and then it's a pleasure all the way. And the director, actors and screenwriter are to be given great credit for making a pro-German WW2 film about an event all too few know about today. I myself had no idea of the resistance of many of the German officers toward Hitler, nor did I know about all the many attempts on his life. A small note: it was wonderful to see the great, underutilized Kenneth Branaugh again, albeit in a small role...