Well done!

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2009)

When I sat down to watching it, I wasn't expecting much, because I had been reading reviews where the critics were down on the film. I was more than pleasantly surprised - the USA has turned out a VERY good film about WWII.
The pacing of the film, the feeling of growing tension,and even the colour scheme of the film are gripping. The impression that someone is after you, breathing down your neck, the impression of the suffocating surveillance is there, too. I am also very much surprised that the Americans have also produced something not along the usual lines - no soppy scenes, no lone hero that takes saving the whole world in casual stride between breakfast and lunch, no countless special effects blotting out the plot, no wallowing in gruesome episodes.
It seems to me that to some extent this film resembles Soviet films about WWII, at least I find a lot in common in the visual language, in the manner of presenting the material.
Tom Cruise does a very good piece of work. He's not just an eye-candy here, but a personality, and a very forceful personality to that. Thanks for making me (and I hope not only me) read more about Stauffenberg and WWII.