3. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg - Valkyrie
Tom Cruise as a Nazi who wants to assassinate Hitler. Read that sentence over and over again until you realise that may be the most ludicrous thing you've ever heard. Cruise plays the real life Claus von Stauffenberg with a remarkable lack of conviction and charisma. The film can't decide whether it's a dialogue heavy historical drama or a blockbuster action-flick, and this hesitation passes over into Cruise's performance. Cruise was extremely committed to portraying von Stauffenberg. He hired a researcher, studied countless history books, spoke to descendants of von Stauffenberg and practised moving with the same disabilities that the Colonel had. This makes it even more disappointing to see the end product turn out so rubbish and boring. Much like War of the Worlds, Cruise never really convinces us that he is this man. The supporting cast is there (Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson co-star), a capable director is in place (Bryan Singer of The Usual Suspects and X-Men fame) and there's a really intriguing and powerful cinematic story at the heart of it, yet none of it works. Cruise is just so stiff and unsure of himself here to play someone as enigmatically complex as von Stauffenberg and Valkyrie fails with the ineptitude of its star.