What do Hitler and Santa have in common? Bryan Singer’s stifled thriller, “Valkyrie,” released on Christmas Day.

Despite its production and changing release dates that garnered severe controversy, “Valkyrie” ends up yawn-worthy rather than breathtaking. Singer reunited with Christopher McQuarrie – who penned “The Usual Suspects” – to chronicle an expansive conspiracy within the Nazi party to assassinate Adolf Hitler, which culminates in a failed bombing attempt on July 20, 1944.

Early in its production “Valkyrie” received criticism for the casting of Tom Cruise as its lead, the one-handed, one-eyed head conspirator Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. Critics point out that Cruise’s celebrity and iconography weighs down the film’s potential. However, Stauffenberg’s character fails not because of Cruise’s overpowering star power, but rather because he is the least dynamic character in the entire ensemble.

Unlike Tom Wilkinson’s conflicted Gen. Friedrich Fromm, Stauffenberg is inexplicably good. His stubborn moral high ground leaves his character fatally one-dimensional and bland.

However, Singer successfully steers the rest of the cast into uncharted film territory. Singer throws Hollywood conventions aside by humanizing Nazis. Traditional Hollywood films portray Nazis as absolute evil – cold, calculating, anal-retentive, soulless men dressed in fascist black with German accents.

Yet “Valkyrie”’s Nazis hesitate, falter and question the Fuhrer, which shows the audience that Nazis are human after all.

Other than this singular stroke of genius, Valkyrie’s plot unravels with undeveloped characters and background information. In one instance, Stauffenberg’s mutinous sycophants hold off on executing Hitler because Heinrich Himmler is not present. If the viewer is not a certified World War II buff, he or she will lose the significance of such events because the details are never revealed.

Inaction also plagues “Valkyrie”’s flawed script. The majority of the film has the viewer’s eyes following a leather attache or box of liquor. In the end, “Valkyrie” feels like an old bed – comfortable, but nothing electric.