June 23, 2010, - 11:46 am
Mid-Week Box Office: “Knight And Day”
A lot of critics are panning “Knight And Day,” which debuted in theaters today. But I found it light, enjoyable, and entertaining. And that’s saying a lot, considering I dislike both lead actors in the movie–Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Despite his personal politics and bizarre behavior off-screen, Cruise shows, once again, that he truly is a great actor. He’s that good, even in a plot that has some gaping holes. Diaz is the usual–not exciting, but workmanlike enough in essentially playing herself.
The story: Cameron Diaz is a woman headed home for her sister’s wedding. At the airport, she keeps bumping into a flirty guy (Tom Cruise) and then learns she’s been bumped from her flight. After fretting about it, she’s allowed on the flight. But it’s not really a legitimate flight with real passengers. Instead, it’s a plane flown by CIA agents out to kill rogue CIA agent Cruise, who has a secret battery with him that the government wants. Cruise kills all of the passengers and crew, lands the plane in a field, and warns Diaz that she’s going to be hounded by government agents. The next morning, Diaz wakes up at home and all is well. But not for long.
For the rest of the movie, Diaz and Cruise are eluding CIA agents, including a rogue agent who set Cruise up, and some European mobsters. They are trying to keep all of these villains from getting a battery with a never-ending power source. There are car chases, a jaunt to a secluded desert island, chases through Europe, Boston, and beyond.
It’s funny, ever-moving, full of action, car chases, shootings, and killings. In many ways, it’s an amusing parody of secret agent movies, including the Bond flicks.
But it’s actually far better than I’m describing. Yes, the story has big, obvious mistakes and holes. For example, wouldn’t Cruise–the CIA’s top undercover operative–know to ditch Cameron Diaz’s phone, if he truly wanted them “off the grid” and untraceable by authorities and mobsters? But these are tiny details that barely detract from what is an otherwise good movie, the kind of stuff summer movies are supposed to be. Yes, it’s not a deep story or even a solid one. But that’s not the point. It’s fun, escapist entertainment. And for that purpose, it excels. Could have been a little shorter, but that’s the case for most movies, these days.
In a summer season with few movies I liked, I thoroughly enjoyed and engaged with this one, smiling and laughing all the way through. Yes, it’s got a predictable ending, but I liked the outlandish ride. (Too violent for young kids, but fine for later teens).
THREE REAGANS
Watch the trailer . . .
Tags: battery, Cameron Diaz, CIA, Knight and Day, movie, movie review, Movie Reviews, secret agent, Tom Cruise
I wonder if, during the filming of this, Diaz had to endure Cruise’s usual constant sales push to get her to join that organization he belongs to, which is essentially nothing but a big tax-exempt Manson family.
Daniel H on June 23, 2010 at 12:09 pm