Valkyrie

Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie" is a disappointment but not an unexpected one. After all, we know how it turns out -- the good guys fail -- and that's a pretty big storytelling impediment to overcome.
"Valkyrie" is the story of the plot to kill Hitler that almost worked.
Tom Cruise is the aristocratic Claus von Stauffenberg, the trigger man of the assassination attempt. Cruise's performance is dull, all grim looks and precision heroics. No room for complexity or depth of character. (How big a factor was Stauffenberg's Catholicism, for instance?)
The ploy kicks in quickly. A disaffected Stauffenberg is almost killed in the opening scene and before you can say obengruppenfuhrer he's plotting away.
The attempt itself is filmed dryly by singer. He gets in and gets out of the big scene at the Wolf's Lair, following Stauffenberg's flight back to Berlin and his desperate efforts to energize and organize his fellow coup leaders.
The best scenes are here, at Coup Central, where excitement and determination turn to uncertainty and then fear as it becomes evident the coup will not succeed.
Strangely,the movie generates more excitement with phone calls and counterplotting than it does with explosions and gunfire.
"Valkyrie" follows Stauffenberg to the bitter end, but his death has little impact. We just didn't know the guy that well.