Knight and Day (2010)
Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, and Paul Dano
Directed by James Mangold
There's no denying that Knight and Day is a ridiculous espionage comedy-thriller. It's one of those movies where the bad guys can't make a shot, but the good guys always get their man. And I doubt I'm ruining anything for anyone by saying that our two big name movie stars share some on-screen flirtation. There's really nothing that you haven't seen before...and seen done better.
Yet, for some reason, Knight and Day kind of works. And, honestly, it's because of Tom Cruise. There's a smoothness and ease that he brings to his secret agent Roy Miller that pushes the movie to just a little above average. June thinks Roy is winning from the get-go when they meet on flight to Boston, but June soon discovers that Roy's not your run-of-the-mill guy and is (rightly so) frightened by his career. After the plane that they're on crashes in a wheat field, Roy (with the requisite Tom Cruisian charm) warns June that she unfortunately is now a part of this spy life whether she likes it or not. June refuses to believe that Roy's correct, but she soon discovers that she may need him to survive.
Despite the fact that I can list many things that aren't great in the film (a lack of sexual chemistry between Diaz and Cruise, some awful special effects, a very disappointing and mildly "cop-outtish" ending), I still enjoyed the sheer fun of the film. Cruise is funny and his star wattage is in full force here. Diaz is perfectly fine, and while there's nothing exciting or special that she brings to the table, she certainly holds her own in this flick. Co-stars Peter Sarsgaard and Viola Davis bring their considerable acting chops to the film as well.
Listen, if you come out of this saying that the film is awful, I couldn't really fight you on it. There are infinitely better adventure-romance films -- seriously, everyone should check out Romancing the Stone which is the epitome of the genre, to me. Nonetheless, if you're looking for some mildly diverting fun, you could do much worse than Knight and Day.
The RyMickey Rating: C+
Tom Cruise looks insanely obnoxious in the trailer..and I actually like Tom Cruise..as an actor. He is brilliant in Minority Report, Collateral, and anchored War of the Worlds. This looks like his team of agents sat him and Cameron Diaz down and said "you guys need to get back into the game, here is this studio drivel..its big loud and dumb and you will get your standard quote for it" Katie Holmes needs another house!
ReplyDeleteCruise is kinda obnoxious in the movie, too (so it's not just the trailer incorrectly displaying things), but I think that's his persona in general over the past 15 years. The obnoxiousness kind of works for this character, however.
ReplyDeleteLike I say, there's nothing special about the film in the slightest...not a thing. But, there was something that worked here a little bit better than average and I genuinely believe that's because of Cruise's smarminess.
They shouldn't have explained his goal so early on or at all. He was freakin' great when he was mysterious and batshit insane.
ReplyDeleteAnd he was the ONLY good part. there wasn't a single good aspect of the movie but I'd still say I liked it because I was laughing whenever he was on screen.
It's one of those movies that you walk out of and think it was better than it actually was because you were expecting so little. As time goes on, you recognize what you always knew all along -- that it wasn't that good.
ReplyDeleteCruise was definitely very good (particularly in the first hour...which was much better than the final hour) and without him, the movie would've been dreadful. Diaz is such a nonentity that she could've been replaced with anyone else and it wouldn't have mattered. Not saying she was bad (for some reason, I really found it funny when she was on the plane in the bathroom and cracking up after Cruise revealed who he was), but anyone could've played that part the same way.
But Shannon was in it! (for all of 60 seconds...)