Tom Cruise - Cruise Criticised By Colonel's Family

TOM CRUISE was "too small" to play CLAUS VON STAUFFENBERG in new movie VALKYRIE - according to a relative of the would-be assassin.

The film tells the story of von Stauffenberg's plot to murder Nazi leader Adolf Hitler during World War II, with Cruise taking the lead role - prompting criticism from some of the history-making colonel's children that the casting wasn't realistic.

And another family member has now spoken out - Franz von Stauffenberg insists Cruise has failed to capture his great-uncle's "charisma" in the movie.

He tells German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, "Tom Cruise seems terribly cautious, almost as if he were afraid of playing the role. He tries to seem elegant but comes across as extremely stiff.

"He seems not at all decisive in the role and above all not charismatic enough. On the whole he just seems too small... From what I've learned about Claus von Stauffenberg from the literature, history books and family stories, he is meant to have been a charismatic man. Someone who inspired people with his smile, his humour and charm."