Film Review: Valkyrie

Solid if unspectacular historical drama. Tom Cruise heads up a top-notch (and mostly British) cast including Bill Nighy (looking reptilian), Kenneth Branaugh, Carice Van Houten and Terrence Stamp. Director Bryan Singer re-teams with Christopher McQuarrie, the screenwriter from the project (The Usual Suspects) that made them both up-and-coming stars over a decade ago. While they've made nothing to be ashamed of, Valkyrie will ultimately be a forgettable action-drama. It's an awkward feeling film along the lines of Blood Diamond in that it can't seem to make up its mind whether or not to fall more on the side of action or serious drama, alternating between the two and never settling strongly on either. It does win major points, however, for creating and sustaining a suspenseful, heist-evoking setup despite the fact that the audience knows the ending going in.