Cheekily brazen meta action-comedy-thriller where fist-fights, car chases and pithy one liners occur not for reasons of narrative or character development, but simply for the mere sake of things. At times the tongue-in-cheek screwball humour reaches some hilarious heights (an elaborately choreographed set-piece where Cruise takes out everyone and lands a plane) otherwise a romantic interrupt feels out of place in this movie which completely defies all logic. The charm works for a while, Diaz is surprisingly natural here, and it's fun being in Cruise control. But Mangold's same rhythm just keeps going on and on, and I feel as though the kinetic energy throughout ultimately should've delivered something warmer. The talented Peter Sarsgaard who yielded brilliance in An Education just one year prior deserves a stronger character and a much better movie than this one as well. Definitely not as bad as I initially expected, but it's just a little too basic and silly for my liking.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This movie has no business being as good as it is. These dual star vehicles always turn out to be junk (see BIRD ON A WIRE for example) but somehow KNIGHT AND DAY is just terrific. Totally unbelievable in every way mind you, and yet somehow that's part of the movie's charm. The first half is better than the second though, and the music is questionable. But other than that? Fantastic stuff.

This movie almost found a good groove, but instead it's a dull spy thriller. There were these odd moments I really liked where it was clear that they were going for a more satrical vibe. Action sequences that were purposefully over the top, and just weird moments like people coming to out of a drug-induced sleep to see only a few seconds of a new set and action sequence, only to fall back asleep before anything could be resolved. It was like an even sillier True Lies. But there weren't near enough of these moments and also Cameron Diaz is pretty awful. Not in this movie; just everything she does.

tom cruise just shows what a maniac he is...

Cheekily brazen meta action-comedy-thriller where fist-fights, car chases and pithy one liners occur not for reasons of narrative or character development, but simply for the mere sake of things. At times the tongue-in-cheek screwball humour reaches some hilarious heights (an elaborately choreographed set-piece where Cruise takes out everyone and lands a plane) otherwise a romantic interrupt feels out of place in this movie which completely defies all logic. The charm works for a while, Diaz is surprisingly natural here, and it's fun being in Cruise control. But Mangold's same rhythm just keeps going on and on, and I feel as though the kinetic energy throughout ultimately should've delivered something warmer. The talented Peter Sarsgaard who yielded brilliance in An Education just one year prior deserves a stronger character and a much better movie than this one as well. Definitely not as bad as I initially expected, but it's just a little too basic and silly for my liking.

June Summer Blockbuster Challenge
2010

I am climbing the tower of almost watching every Tom Cruise movie and I'm kind of enjoying it. Not as bad as I though, quiet good. Maybe some over acting but all together not bad.

Roy Miller: "They'll tell you I'm mentally unstable and violent and dangerous and it will all sound very convincing."
June Havens: "I'm already convinced."

Even though the plot is predictable, there is still some fun to be had in this movie.

A Movie Every Year Since I was Born

Movie #26 2010

So I'm down to my last few movies in this challenge and will admit this is getting tough now.

This was okay, not a huge fan of Diaz but don't dislike her, used to hate Cruise but must admit the crazy bastard has grown on me since September last year.

As for this movie don't dislike it but found it very middle of the road. A decent action film.

Interesting for the first half hour or so but then it gets silly and then it gets boring. Tom Cruise did a fine job, I like the action persona that he's held for the past few years but Cameron Diaz's character was poorly written and seemed to be intended for a younger actress. I don't dislike Diaz and I think she does the best with what she's given but her character is written much too naive and "oh gee whiz" for an adult woman to playing so it seems weird. Disappointing.

There seems to be an unending stream of middle-of-the-road blow-'em-up action movies this summer (The Losers, The A-Team). James Mangold's Knight and Day is no different. The film's not particularly good, but then again, it's not terrible. It works best when the film almost becomes a parody of itself. At times, when Tom Cruise does his crazy action stunts, they're done in a way that's funny rather than pulse-pounding adrenaline-fueled action. This works better for the film because the audience never takes it seriously. But this thought doesn't carry on through the rest of the film. Unfortunately, Knight and Day does nothing to distinguish itself from the plethora of mediocre films that have come out this summer.