This movie made me laugh several times, but suffered from too much marketing. The trailers and the internet promo Rain of Madness (an extremely funny send-up of George Hickenlooper’s great Apocalypse Now documentary Hearts of Darkness) were funnier than the film itself and gave away many of the features biggest moments.
Quick tangent; Tom Cruise has a now not-so-secret bit role in the film. I’ve seen him out on the interview circuit for Valkyrie a couple of times now. He and his publicists are trying pretty hard to get him back in the good graces of mainstream America. The tail-between-his-legs posture is really just depressing to watch. It strikes me that alongside a funny cameo showing a playful side in Tropic Thunder, Valkyrie itself is a measured choice to find a common enemy, namely Adolph Hitler, that nearly everyone can agree is more irritating than the Tom Cruise Scientology megalomaniacal diatribes of a couple of years ago. You know you fucked up when you have to pull the focus all the way back to Hitler to become relatable again. To be honest, his public blow up doesn’t impact my willingness to see him in a movie. Clearly not everyone feels the same way.
