"We can draw straws for that job."
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice Van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard and Terence Stamp
Director: Bryan Singer
You know, I had the intention of coming here and writing up a quick review about how it was a good thriller story, acting was good, music was amazing, blah blah blah. I went in to this film with the idea that it would be just that: a good thriller.
However, I was severely mistaken. It was much more than that. It may just be me because I get extremely emotional during WWII films (namely since I saw Schindler's List) but the ending of this film had me in tears. The credits started rolling and I couldn't move - I just kept crying. It was just so powerful and it really didn't help that the location for this ending was the real location in WWII. It felt so real and numbing that I felt very detached from everything when I left the theatre.
Minus the ending, the film would probably earn a solid B from me. I'll try and compose some entertaining thoughts not on the ending now so you can get an actual idea of the film. The beginning, first off, was amazingly well done and helps you get hooked from the start.
With historical films, there's always the possible problem that the audience already knows the ending and will therefore be detached from the film. Like with this one - we know the assassination attempt didn't work because Hitler committed suicide in 1945. What some films are able to achieve, however, much like this one, is enough genuine believability that we say screw our knowledge of what really happened, give me a good film! The director of this film, Bryan Singer, stuck to facts and took no liberties (if he did, they were minimal), retelling a story that many of us were not alive to see. He allowed us to imagine the possibility that Hitler may have died a year earlier and entertained us with our own imagination as to what WWII would have been like had that happened.
Ty Burr says it much more eloquently than I do:
"Valkyrie" is at its most convincing - tragic, even - during the climactic scenes that suggest how close these men came to pulling it off. One's heart hurts: nine months of war and millions of deaths were so nearly averted. For a few heady hours, Berlin was in their hands, and then events conspired against the conspirators.
I think that's what really killed me in the end and made the entire movie as a whole so powerful. The fact that it could have turned out another way.
The suspense is believable if you allow yourself to expand your mind. You clench your seat as the clock ticks down and you completely forget, if only for a second, that Hitler committed suicide. Plus the score - MIND BLOWING. Hence why I have the soundtrack now. And it really helps set it the suspense.
Kay. Cast!
UNEXPECTED TOM HOLLANDER WAS UNEXPECTED. SERIOUSLY, HE'S IN EVERYTHING. WHAT THE HELL.
And tragic lack of Kenneth Branagh. I was hoping to see much more of him. However, what we did see (and his last scene) was fantastic. Eddie Izzard also shocked me in a very good way - I didn't recognize him at first and he did give a very compelling performance. Jamie Parker was also absolutely fantastic and I was probably most touched by him.
Bill Nighy absolutely broke my heart, especially in the end. His performance was such a tear-jerker and I never blinked when he was on screen, never looked away. He commands your attention in this film and I loved him to bits and pieces.
To start off the talk about Tom Cruise, I'm going to quote Roger Ebert:
Tom Cruise is perfectly satisfactory, if not electrifying, in the leading role. I'm at a loss to explain the blizzard of negative advance buzz fired at him for the effrontery of playing a half-blind, one-armed Nazi hero. Two factors may be to blame: (a) Cruise has attracted so much publicity by some of his own behavior (using Oprah's couch as a trampoline) that anything he does sincerely seems fair game for mockery, and (b) movie publicity is now driven by gossip, scandal and the eagerness of fanboys and girls to attract attention by posing as critics of movies they've almost certainly not seen. Now that the movie is here, the buzz is irrelevant, but may do residual damage.
And that's actually very sad because it's so true. One, I feel that movies are now driven by gossip which is wrong on every level. These amazing pieces of art need to be enjoyed and praised and criticized based on their merit, now which scandalous actors/actresses star in which film. Two, I enjoyed Tom Cruise in this. I know, I'm the only one, right? And one of the few people who still seem to like the guy. His performance in this film was subtle, yelling only once, and very skilfully done. I immensely loved watching him in this film and felt that he carried it well.
Recommend this movie to other people?: Yes, if you like thrillers and can handle WWII movies better than I can (unless you don't mind tears).
Buy the DVD: Hopefully.
Grade: A-/B (the former is for the ending)
Trailer: Here
♥The Reader (January 9 2009)
♥Last Chance Harvey (January 16 2009)
♥Defiance (January 16 2009)
♥The Rebound (January 23 2009)
♥He's Just Not That Into You (February 6 2009)
♥Two Lovers (February 13 2009)
♥The Edge of Love (March 2009) (Limited)
♥Watchmen (March 6 2009)
♥The Soloist (March 13 2009)
♥Star Trek XI (May 8 2009)
♥Angels & Demons (May 15 2009)
♥Up (May 29 2009)
♥Public Enemies (July 1 2009)
♥Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17 2009)
♥Where the Wild Things Are (October 16 2009)
♥Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (November 13 2009)
♥Sherlock Holmes (2010)
♥Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (November 19 2010)
♥Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (May 2011)
♥The Last Station (Unknown Release Date)
♥Shoe At Your Foot (Unknown Release Date)
In other news, I watched The Queen and my one thought? MICHAEL SHEEEEEEEN. <3
And that last picture is particularly special because that's him with Sir David Frost.
Hurrah, another crush to add to the list. XD There is a serious lack of icons for this man. I must find some besides the ones I made (-points at icons for post-).
The film otherwise was fantastic. Very subtle and extremely well made. I enjoyed it.
So you've been getting nothing but movie reviews from me. I shall try and shake it up. XD
Catch you later, calculators.