Salt Lake Tribune Review
The enjoyably energetic “Knight and Day” returns
Tom Cruise to his rightful place as action-movie hero — by taking his more recent off-screen persona, the slightly unhinged couch-jumper, and twisting it into a tailor-made role.
Cruise plays Roy Miller, a serious-looking guy who bumps into June Havens (
Cameron Diaz) in the middle of the Wichita airport. We see June arguing her way onto a flight to Boston, the same flight Roy is taking. But what we soon see is that everyone on the plane, except June, is trying to kill Roy.
A few shootings and one plane crash later, Roy is getting June safely home with the warning not to trust guys in black SUVs talking about trying to make her “secure” or “safe.” Sure enough, while she’s being fitted for a bridesmaid’s dress for the wedding of her sister (
Maggie Grace), guys in black SUVs show up to take her to a secure location. While they’re driving her through Boston’s interstates, who should show up but Roy — jumping off of a motorcycle onto the hood of the car containing June and two dead FBI agents.
At this point, Roy and the movie are just getting warmed up. What follows in rookie screenwriter Patrick O’Neill’s high-energy script is an international spy adventure that takes Roy and June to Europe and back, with a suspicious FBI agent (
Peter Sarsgaard) and an exasperated CIA minder (
Viola Davis) on their tails. As the bullets fly and the cars crash, there’s also a cute romance kicking in gear between the charismatic Roy and the free-spirited June.
There’s only one drawback in “Knight and Day,” and it’s a failing of the Hollywood star system. Part of the thriller element is in questioning whether Roy is a rogue spy who turned traitor (as Sarsgaard’s and Davis’ characters say) or whether Roy is telling the truth that he’s the good guy protecting a scientist (
Paul Dano) with a new neverending energy source. But is it possible to keep that question up in the air when the guy is played by Cruise, a star so regularly on the side of the angels that he was even the good guy when he played a Nazi?
Director
James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) manages to juggle so many other balls in the air — including a car chase that involves a computer-generated bull stampede in Spain — that you don’t bother asking too many questions. The action is paced at breakneck speed, the humor is witty and bubbly, and the chemistry between Cruise and Diaz is refreshingly compatible. After a summer of overblown action spectacles, “Knight and Day” succeeds by underplaying our expectations and then paying off handsomely on them.
-- Sean P. Means
Action Romantic Comedy
Submitted by: coxmic
I enjoyed it, suspended belief like all action flicks and yet it had its "sappy" love story. Good date move.
See Knight and Day
Submitted by: basinboy56
I would recommend that you see this movie. There is action, suspense, intrigue and eye candy for both male and female viewers. One "f word" and two "s words" may offend some.
The rundown: Tom Cruise is terrific as a spy — good or bad, we don’t know — whose dangerous exploits draw an innocent woman (
Cameron Diaz) into his world. 110 minutes (SPM)
Synopsis:
