Remember the days when a star's name alone could carry a giant movie? If for nothing else, Knight and Day (horrendous title!) harkens back to the day when big marquee names made people flock to the movie theater; thankfully, it's also a blast. The movie revolves around rogue secret agent Roy Miller (Tom Cruise), who brings June Havens (Cameron Diaz) on a wild chase across the globe after his latest mission went horribly awry. The movie really does travel across the globe, with gorgeous location shots - Boston, Washington DC, Austria, Spain, a tropical island "off the grid." Reportedly, Cruise and Diaz also did most of their own stunts. This is a big-budget summer action-comedy-romance (does that blend have a catchy name...?), and the money shows.Certainly, Knight and Day won't be winning awards, and the plot is rather formulaic, but the movie knows exactly what it is. The entire film revels in its goofy atmosphere. The movie is fun, entertaining, chock full of big action set-pieces (an extended fight scene on a plane uses some inventive weapons), and pretty damn funny. Many critics screamed that the characters being a tad two-dimensional, the plot overly silly, and the emotional core too cold; I think they're taking Knight and Day a little too seriously.
The whole thing works because Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz exude serious charm every second on screen. Cruise blends Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible with the comedic skills he flexed in Tropic Thunder and a little bit of his own kooky persona; Cruise shows once again why he's a true movie star, and I really hope Knight and Day is his return to the spotlight (early box office receipts speak differently...). He perfectly toes the line between hardened spy and goofy gentleman. Diaz is cute and hilarious, especially during a truth-serum-induced haze in the film's final act. I'm usually not a big fan of Diaz, but she's irresistible here. Unfortunately, for the first few action sequences, Diaz is left to hide behind Cruise and scream; thankfully, she has a quick learning curve. Cruise and Diaz make a superstar couple.
The movie does have big problems - Cruise and Diaz aren't completely believable developing their romance, even when their comedic banter is great (they worked together nine years ago on Vanilla Sky); the plot winds around in circles a little, with some sizable plot holes; a subplot involving a strange suburban home oddly deflates when the mystery is revealed; a serious confrontation late in the movie seems like rapid, awkward shift in tone. For me, the movie often felt like a B-rate Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Also, a ridiculously talented supporting cast of Viola Davis, Peter Sarsgaard, and Paul Dano is completely underutilized.
Despite its faults, Knight and Day zips along at an enjoyable pace; it's a wonderful lighthearted blockbuster popcorn flick, exactly when summer cinema should be. Director James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) shows again that he can make an accessible, crowd-pleasing genre film. Sit back, have fun, escape for two hours - Knight and Day isn't asking anything more from its audience. C+
a B-rate Mr and Mrs. Smith? Isn't that already a B-rate movie haha
ReplyDelete"B-rate" isn't meant to imply that 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' is an A film; I'm simply making a comparison between the two movies. However, I do think 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' is wildly entertaining, and the perfect example what a summer action film should accomplish. The Brangelina chemistry doesn't hurt either.
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