> Knight and Day
2 stars (out of 5)
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Molla, Viola Davis, Paul Dano
Rating: (M)
Knight and Day (Rialto and Hoyts) opens in an airport with June Havens (Cameron Diaz) getting bumped from her flight home. So she is pleased when a seat is found for her.
Not only will she be back in time for her sister's wedding she can also get to know the hunky stranger she kept bumping into in the departure lounge.
The spare seat has a catch. The stranger is Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) a rogue secret agent. All that bumping into each other has the other spies on his tail wondering if June is in on his treachery and the plane is just a contained space in which to bump them off.
This is the start of June's madcap adventures with Roy where over an action-packed weekend she discovers that she likes secret agenting almost as much as she likes Roy.
While not out and out dreadful, Knight and Day makes the mistake of trying to be light and amusing while lumbered with a star who has no idea of how to be either.
Cruise is a hard worker so he grits his teeth and tries to be all postmodern and ironic but his own persona keeps peeping through. Instead of being dashing Roy, he just comes across as controlling and smug. Diaz does much better.
All of the moments I remember fondly have her and very little Cruise.
Best thing: They did film in some very nice locations.
Worst thing: The whole point of action movies is the action. Here whenever things get too dicey Roy knocks June out, we fade to black and the next scene is of her waking up in a new location.
See it with: Someone who is very bored. In other words send the teenagers, it will get them out of your hair for a few hours.
- Christine Powley
