Bearable

Rating: 5/10 (28 January 2009)

I find it difficult to review this movie. It appears neither faction nor drama.
The creators obviously debated whether to use natural English or "'Allo 'Allo" German accents, and on balance I think they made the wrong decision. For an English speaking audience, English spoken with a German accent is far more believable than a ragbag of differing English / American speech.
Casting is one of the most important aspects of any film, and here again I don't think it has been well done. Cruise, of course, is Cruise. Nighty is Nighty. And so on. "Downfall" was such a brilliant success because of the utterly believable casting (as well as the brilliance of the Fuhrer's portrayal). But in Valkyrie, none of the characters is developed: they are actors . The tensions that arose because of the doubt that the plot might succeed are shown - but not developed sufficiently to make you care.
The flashbacks and flashforwards don't do anything for the structure of the film, and if anything make it a little confusing.
The dialogue wasn't helped by rather poor sound mixing: I found some of it quite difficult to follow - but then the picture quality wasn't very good either so it may have been a digital projection problem.
I usually rate a movie personally as to whether I will buy the DVD so that I can watch it every year or two. On balance I might - but only when the price comes down to the rental value.
Not a real clunker, but - frustratingly - missing just too many critical ingredients.