VALKYRIE United Artists 3 / 5

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Tom Cruise is the Michael Jackson of the Film World. Once about a time he was a Thriller, then he was Bad, now he's just plain Dangerous. Whether it's his love of Scientology or his couch jumping, there's something infinitely strange about him.

But it was not always thus. Once upon a time, in the hands of great directors, the Cruiser knocked out two great films. Scorsese directed him to wonderful effect in THE COLOUR OF MONEY (1986), a film that finally won Paul Newman a well deserved Oscar. Newman, who hand-picked Cruise to star with him, suggested Cruise make another film, one that would act as a counter-balance to the war-mongering of TOP GUN (1986). Cruise agreed and that film was Oliver Stone's BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989). He was brilliant in it and would have taken home an Oscar in any given year except 1990, which was the year Daniel Day Lewis deservedly grabbed the Oscar in Jim Sheridan's MY LEFT FOOT (1989). But Tom must have run him a mighty close second. Nothing, really, in Cruise's earlier career hinted at the brilliance that he achieved in those two films and nothing he has made since has come even close. He is the best paid actor on the planet, one of the most powerful people in Hollywood and yet he is content to make absolute drivel like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III (2006). Against that, there is no denying people flock to the theatre to see the strange little Tom in action.

Cruise's latest, Valkyrie, is an 'historical thriller' set in Nazi Germany during World War II. It depicts the true life plot of German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. It's directed by Bryan Singer, he of X-MEN (2003) and THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1994) fame, so if Cruise's involvement wasn't a total give away, then the choice of Director confirms that the emphasis is most definitely on the 'thriller' part of 'historical thriller.'

You also know that the plot to assassinate Hitler won't succeed. So the question becomes can Singer direct a thriller that's worth watching when everyone knows that the plot, ultimately, will fail? And the answer, surprisingly, is 'Yes'.

Tom Cruise plays the conspirator Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, he's surrounded by a stellar cast of, mainly, British thespians. Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Kenneth Branagh are wonderful co-conspirators while Tom Wilkinson plays the more ambiguous General Fromm. The film is tightly wound, enjoyable entertainment. It manages to maintain suspense and the audience remains involved in the unfolding conspiracy and plot right though to the inevitable ending, which, unfortunately falls a little flat.

And, while it's impossible to watch the Cruiser without being constantly reminded of what a strange little man he is, he doesn't take away from the overall enjoy-ability of the film. So, to wrap up, this is a movie about a plot to kill Hitler, the strange little man, who wins in the film but, ultimately, loses in real life starring Tom Cruise, the strange little man, who loses in the film but, for some inexplicable reason, always wins in real life. Maybe there's something to that Scientology after all...

Jason O'Mahony
www.valkyrie.unitedartists.com

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