A charming cameo as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder wasn’t enough to warm audiences to Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie. Still battling to regain the career beaten between Oprah’s couch pillows, Cruise zeroed in on a big risk to tell the story of a mastermind who tried to assassinate Hitler. Unfortunately, the actor failed to dissolve into his role, or even let us forget who he is for a moment. Close your eyes and this could be Lestat scheming to bring Hitler down, or Maverick, or Ethan Hunt. In her less-than-pleased review of the film, Stephanie Zacharek noted: “Every time I looked at Cruise’s solemn, self-serious visage, I kept seeing a chipmunk with an eye patch.”