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Once the fodder for gossip as brassy as a Wagner horn solo, the behind-the-scenes operatics that delayed the release of Valkyrie are quickly forgotten the minute Tom Cruise gets down to the business of plotting to kill Adolf Hitler. Cruise plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a Good German famous to his countrymen for his resistance to the Nazi mandate but less known among Americans. Trained as a loyal soldier, the well-bred officer’s disgust at his Führer’s leadership deepened following severe wounds suffered during battle in Tunisia, where he lost a hand and an eye. And the assassination plan and subsequent government transition that Stauffenberg devised, with help from a network of dissident army officers and political leaders, was an audacious blend of suspenseful daring and wonkish political strategy.

History confirms, of course, that the July 20, 1944, operation failed when a bomb planted in Hitler’s presence did too little damage; the Nazi leader survived with minor scratches, army loyalists quelled the coup, and Stauffenberg suffered the consequences, along with scores of others.

This movie had gotten terrible reviews, therefore, I went mainly to be able to criticize it like everyone else. I had no level of expectation. It was, at least, watchable. Again, why this was released at Christmas is beyond me other than they either wanted to get it out of the way or had some glimmer of hope that someone or the movie itself would be nominated for the Academy Awards this year.

It was interesting from its historical perspective. While Cruise is aging well and looks the part of an adult, his still cherubic voice detracts as it has in most every movie he’s been in since Risky Business. For the most part, every movie he’s been in except the Mission Impossibles have been busts.

Since I had not expections, it was better than I thought it would be. Cruise wasn’t totally plastic. Certainly not a holiday theme, but would hold off seeing it til it comes to HBO or network TV.

Rating: 0.5 out of 5