Knight And Day Review

These movie superhero team ups always worry me. The names of the leads, big and bold on the advertising poster seem to scream, “Look! It’s Him! It’s Her! Together! Need we say more?” Once the lights dim and the trailers finish though, we are not always treated to the most substantial of films. Is it wrong to ask for a rewarding film experience or should we just be grateful to the producers for allowing us to share time with Him and Her, Together?

Knight And Day then.

Tom Cruise plays a highly trained rogue CIA operative. Cameron Diaz plays the woman that gets unwittingly dragged into his attempts to keep a perpetual motion battery out of the wrong (or, swerve, right) hands. They are pursued across the world by the good guys, the bad guys and the guys in between. It’s a flimsy plot but it serves its purpose, that being to allow the chemistry between these mismatched characters to simmer and bubble as they run, fight and drive through a world of beautiful locations which frequently end up on fire.

Bit of a problem here though and this comes back to my original point. Tom Cruise is a good, sorry, great looking action man with a winning smile and Cameron Diaz is an equally great looking and charismatic tomboy. They are going to fancy each other, right? It’ll be like Keanu and Sandra in Speed. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the actors. And the writers. And the director. And catering. This is a relationship of zero chemistry. Sure they bicker at first, sure he notices her charm and good looks while she notices his abs and smile and sure the predicaments they are thrown into lead to much landing on each other and rolling about on sandy beaches but they may as well be brother and sister. Sexy brother and sister yes but still. I found myself frequently having to fill in blanks in my own head when it came to their developing intimacy and that can’t be a good thing. I didn’t play the, “It’s Tom, it’s Cameron,” game and I think that plenty of other viewers will have the same problem.

Obviously there is more to this film than the pair’s pairing off but you need to do a fair amount in an action romantic comedy these days to impress, particularly when your USP isn’t that U. The plot is completely disposable, the action set pieces are fine but I left the film feeling unsatisfied, somewhat cheated and wondering if I had only myself to blame for buying into that poster in the first place.

If I keep paying to see movies like this, can I blame Hollywood for continuing to make them? Do I deserve better? Do you?

Let me know what you think.


BSP