To think, all of the action that takes place in the Summer blockbuster bait of "Knight and Day" is because of a special kind of battery. Cameron Diaz works her charm as an auto mechanic; her garage primarily focuses on restoring old classic cars. She meets Tom Cruise, special agent, at the airport, gets a ticket on board a flight containing an entire crew and passenger manifest consisting of shadowy assassins attempting to retrieve the battery—not to mention, eliminate Cruise who becomes "solitary killing machine" when Diaz hits the lady's room.
The rest of the movie has poor Diaz mixed up in Cruise's global cat and mouse with the company he was once employed with, FBI or CIA, some sort of governmental entity which trains special agents and assigns them tasks and operations to perform.
"Knight and Day" is standard absurd escapist fare designed to cater to a crowd expecting thrills while munching on popcorn. Cruise's agent can accomplish stunning feats like multi-tasking when "the enemy" is after him, such as keeping his equilibrium in check despite having to shoot different weapons while on the top of cars as a number of people are firing machine guns in his direction.
His motorcycle ride with Cameron as his passenger through the streets of a Spanish city during the "running of the bulls" and how Cruise constantly avoids certain death while people are chasing him is as preposterous and exciting as it gets. There are plenty of James Bond type heroics for Cruise here, but, to be honest, he's essentially sliding into the vacant chair Sly and Arnold filled during the 80s and 90s. The violence to those Cruise annihilates is shot in a manner befitting a larger viewing audience, no graphic bloodshed, despite the climbing body count and use of artillery.
"Knight and Day" has the stunning locations typical of a globe-trotting action movie, such as a train in the Alps or the many places in Spain. Perhaps the biggest action sequence occurs in Boston, where Diaz' character lives.
Sub-plots include Diaz preparing for her sister's nuptials and discovering Cruise's parents home (they believe he's dead), Paul Dano's misfit genius who invented the batter constantly in peril with Cruise his protector (although, Cruise treats him like a big brother), Peter Sarsgaard as the agent out to catch Cruise (he's actually the villain who wants the battery and framed Cruise as the "rogue agent" who betrayed his government), and Jordi Mollà as Antonio, also wanting the battery because of its value, using the many Spanish henchmen as his disposal in order to do so.
Diaz finds herself knee-deep in espionage inadvertently, even one point having herself kidnapped by Antonio so that she can reunite with Cruise when they are separated. One funny scene has Diaz drugged by Antonio with a truth serum so that she can unveil the location of the battery, but all it does is cause her to ramble about everything except what he desires (it gets even funnier when Cruise storms Antonio's compound to rescue her and she admits they would probably have great sex!).
"Knight and Day" has the usual mixture of romance, comedy, and ridiculous superhuman abilities of its hero (and heroine, since Diaz even performs some pretty impressive feats such as driving a car from the back seat while hunching over a dead driver while Cruise is dangling from different areas of the vehicle, not to mention, shooting a gun while sitting in Cruise's lap as he is driving the motorcycle through crowded streets and alleys with constant gunfire aimed right at them) we expect from a movie designed to target a large opening weekend during the summer.
Sarsgaard, a fine actor, is really on auto-pilot here, not asked to do much except connive and plot his strategy for getting the battery. Cruise has several scenes (including the flight from Wichita and on board the train, where he must combat highly skilled assassins) where he must use Jason Bourne type martial arts skills.
The use of a knock-out drug which subdues Diaz (and even Cruise at the end) so that Cruise can keep her from hysterics is an interesting device which shows a skewed perspective from the point-of-view of the one under its influence, how she can visualize (in a haze) certain moments awakening for brief intervals, before finally returning to a lucid state (it also allows the director to avoid showing how Cruise gets Diaz out of a seemingly impossible trap with a veritable army of Antonio's men in a warehouse and to an island "off the grid").
The rest of the movie has poor Diaz mixed up in Cruise's global cat and mouse with the company he was once employed with, FBI or CIA, some sort of governmental entity which trains special agents and assigns them tasks and operations to perform.
"Knight and Day" is standard absurd escapist fare designed to cater to a crowd expecting thrills while munching on popcorn. Cruise's agent can accomplish stunning feats like multi-tasking when "the enemy" is after him, such as keeping his equilibrium in check despite having to shoot different weapons while on the top of cars as a number of people are firing machine guns in his direction.
His motorcycle ride with Cameron as his passenger through the streets of a Spanish city during the "running of the bulls" and how Cruise constantly avoids certain death while people are chasing him is as preposterous and exciting as it gets. There are plenty of James Bond type heroics for Cruise here, but, to be honest, he's essentially sliding into the vacant chair Sly and Arnold filled during the 80s and 90s. The violence to those Cruise annihilates is shot in a manner befitting a larger viewing audience, no graphic bloodshed, despite the climbing body count and use of artillery.
"Knight and Day" has the stunning locations typical of a globe-trotting action movie, such as a train in the Alps or the many places in Spain. Perhaps the biggest action sequence occurs in Boston, where Diaz' character lives.
Sub-plots include Diaz preparing for her sister's nuptials and discovering Cruise's parents home (they believe he's dead), Paul Dano's misfit genius who invented the batter constantly in peril with Cruise his protector (although, Cruise treats him like a big brother), Peter Sarsgaard as the agent out to catch Cruise (he's actually the villain who wants the battery and framed Cruise as the "rogue agent" who betrayed his government), and Jordi Mollà as Antonio, also wanting the battery because of its value, using the many Spanish henchmen as his disposal in order to do so.
Diaz finds herself knee-deep in espionage inadvertently, even one point having herself kidnapped by Antonio so that she can reunite with Cruise when they are separated. One funny scene has Diaz drugged by Antonio with a truth serum so that she can unveil the location of the battery, but all it does is cause her to ramble about everything except what he desires (it gets even funnier when Cruise storms Antonio's compound to rescue her and she admits they would probably have great sex!).
"Knight and Day" has the usual mixture of romance, comedy, and ridiculous superhuman abilities of its hero (and heroine, since Diaz even performs some pretty impressive feats such as driving a car from the back seat while hunching over a dead driver while Cruise is dangling from different areas of the vehicle, not to mention, shooting a gun while sitting in Cruise's lap as he is driving the motorcycle through crowded streets and alleys with constant gunfire aimed right at them) we expect from a movie designed to target a large opening weekend during the summer.
Sarsgaard, a fine actor, is really on auto-pilot here, not asked to do much except connive and plot his strategy for getting the battery. Cruise has several scenes (including the flight from Wichita and on board the train, where he must combat highly skilled assassins) where he must use Jason Bourne type martial arts skills.
The use of a knock-out drug which subdues Diaz (and even Cruise at the end) so that Cruise can keep her from hysterics is an interesting device which shows a skewed perspective from the point-of-view of the one under its influence, how she can visualize (in a haze) certain moments awakening for brief intervals, before finally returning to a lucid state (it also allows the director to avoid showing how Cruise gets Diaz out of a seemingly impossible trap with a veritable army of Antonio's men in a warehouse and to an island "off the grid").