Movie Review: “Knight and Day”
7 Jul
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment, the 2010 summer film season has been underwhelming so far both critically and financially. James Mangold’s Knight and Day is one of last remaining summer blockbusters that people have high expectations for. With Tom Cruise returning back to his action roots and with an amazing supporting cast, it can do no wrong…right? Make the jump to find out!
Knight and Day begins when a lonesome woman named June Havens (played by Cameron Diaz) has a random encounter at an airport with a fugitive spy named Roy (played by Tom Cruise). After a series of events, both of their lives become intertwined and are forced into a series of adventures that span across the globe. While on the run, June is conflicted between different sides and must decide if Roy is a good spy or a corrupt one.
This film has gone through “development hell” and back with different directors, writers, cast, and genre and the evidence is clearly shown in the final product. The film doesn’t have a consistent theme in terms of story and dialogue. One possible reason why Knight and Day didn’t have a consistent theme was because of the twelve different writers involved in the film’s history. The film is literally all over the place and tries to do a little bit of everything, but ultimately falls flat.
In the beginning of the film, the audience is introduced to multiple plot lines. However, as June and Roy’s adventure continues on, the plot lines are simply abandoned with no reason whatsoever. Even the introduction to Paul Dano’s character was done in one of the worst ways possible and missed out on a great opportunity.
One aspect that worked in the film’s favor was Tom Cruise’s performance. He was able to bring out an acceptable performance even with the horrible material given. His performances in past action films like Mission Impossible definitely worked to his advantage for the Roy character. However, Cameron Diaz’s character is a complete mess and is almost impossible for the audience to fully invest in her performance. The on-screen chemistry between Cruise and Diaz seemed off-balance and not believable. Even the supporting cast wasn’t utilized to the best of their abilities. For example, Peter Sarsgaard’s character in the film felt cliché and predictable.
Surprisingly, the action scenes in Knight and Day were actually well-done. They were diverse and unique from one another and continued to bring the intensity up a level as the film progressed. The different locations and environments also helped elevate what was being shown on the screen.
This film was riding on high expectations since it had the perfect recipe for a great summer blockbuster, however, it failed to create a solid story for the audience to enjoy. James Mangold failed to capture the life of the characters like he did in his past work with Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma. It’s sad to see such a lackluster summer this year in terms of film, but Knight and Day is yet another film that I would not recommend seeing.
Tags: Cameron Diaz, James Mangold, July 2010, Knight and Day, Movie Review, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Tom Cruise
Oy, looks like this was a serious case of too many cooks spoil the broth. Such a waste of talents, and I meant Sarsgaard and Dano. No surprise Diaz was a mess, she was just a ball of nerves even in the trailer. I was intrigued by all the action stuff though, car chases and the scenery as they move from place to place, but even when those are well-done, I don’t think I’ll see this… unless there’s absolutely nothing else to rent and I’m utterly bored.
That’s what i thought..It felt like people joined the project because of James Mangold, hoping it would have the same critical success as his last two films.
I thought Diaz did her job well. Maybe I’m just not as hard on the film as others.
I expected nothing from this and wound up having a great time. I literally heard about this one just as it came out and haven’t heard about it since.
It had that A-Team kind of over the top feel to it and I was digging it.
From what I previously read elsewhere I thought this one could deliver but I have a funny feeling I’ll have similar sentiments as you when I finally get round to seeing it.
I wonder what will this flop do to Tom Cruise’s plans to make a sequel to TOP GUN
In terms of Tom Cruise’s average (non Mission Impossible) open K&D wasn’t actually a flop.
was not aware of all the drama behind the project. And yes, you are right…this summer season has been far from inspirational. But I kind of enjoyed this one for what it was. No great movie, by any stretch. But certainly did entertain, even with so many flaws. Reviewed it recently on Magic Lantern: http://magiclanternfilm.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/peter-eramo-reviews-knight-and-day-12/
Good to read all the news behind it…thanks!
As I said before elsewhere, I really enjoyed this one actually, probably the most fun movie of the year. Though Cruise is good (along with bit turns from Davis and Dano) it’s Diaz who shines for me.
I have seen either people saying its good, or some people saying this is totally one of the worst movies of the year. It’s weird, and I still don’t know what I want to see.
One of my pet peeves is when an actor can’t do an accent. If you can’t do it, fine — have someone rewrite the character. But don’t do a piss-poor job like Cameron Diaz does with her supposed “Boston accent.” Ugh!
I saw “Knight and Day” because it was the only movie with a time that matched. The action scenes were well done, but the banter was more like old married couple bickering.