Movie with Abe: Knight and Day

Knight and Day
Directed by James Mangold
Released June 23, 2010

What could be better than a light, entertaining summer action blockbuster? Aside from a smart breakout independent drama, pretty much nothing. This film doesn’t waste time on silly things like character development, plot, common sense, or continuity since none of that is truly important to what it’s trying to be. It knows exactly what it is, and it excels at being just that. For one critic horribly dismayed by the awfulness of “The Last Airbender” one Sunday morning, a successive showing of “Knight and Day” was just the remedy needed that delivered action, laughs, smiles, and a genuinely great time for 109 minutes.

It’s wonderful to be able to say that everything in “Knight and Day” works great. The action scenes build on each other, and they’re fast-paced, non-stop, and a whole lot of fun. It’s sort of like a mix of “Mission Impossible” and “Speed” that makes a bit more sense than the former and isn’t quite as substantive of the latter. Even more refreshing is the fact that the film’s two stars are doing exactly what they should be doing with their careers right now.

After some choice critical and box-office successes in the 80s, 90s, and 00s, Tom Cruise hasn’t quite done well for himself in the past with some wild behavior and film roles in duds like “Lions for Lambs” and “Valkyrie” over the past couple of years. An amalgam of the roles he played in “Mission Impossible” and “Collateral,” Roy Miller is a perfect return to form for Cruise. He has exactly the right mannerisms, charisma, and comic timing to pull off this action hero-villain part and to do it with a permanent smile.

Cameron Diaz, who tried serious acting a number of years ago and ended up with a few Golden Globe nominations to show for it (“Being John Malkovich,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Gangs of New York”), feels right at home as the blissfully unaware June Havens, who first meets Roy at an airport and finds her life thrown for a loop as a result of their interactions. Diaz is sweet, funny, and most importantly, willing to let herself be swept up in this adventure while asking remarkably few questions about the situation. It’s a model mindset for the audience, and letting go of all worldly concerns and getting immersed in the thrill of “Knight and Day” is just the recipe for an equally fun and forgettable summer movie.

B+

Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Knight & Day

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.



Knight & Day – Opening July 2, 2010

I came across this trailer online and got quite excited by it. The sheer combination of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz is fantastic enough, but what really seals the deal is that they’re playing the roles which suit each of them best. This is reminiscent of Cruise’s role in “Collateral” back in 2004, which is a performance I thought didn’t receive nearly enough praise. The difference here is that he’s playing it comically. If there’s one thing that most people can probably agree on about Cruise, it’s that he’s able to be full of himself when he wants to be. In this part, he’s all about how cool he is, and that’s something Cruise does extraordinarily well. Even better, he’s determined to have a great time and make his female companion have one hell of a time. Diaz has struck out recently, and this seems like a return to her more fish-out-of-water roles, like in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” where the expression of shock on her face is better than one hundred lines of dialogue. Playing an action superstar in “Charlie’s Angels” was hardly the best use of Diaz’s considerable talents, and this feels like a much snugger fit. Now, on to the movie. There are many ways it could probably go horribly awry, but it should be a whole lot of fun. This trailer is also only a snapshot of one or two scenes with a few quick clips thrown in here and there, so much is still unclear about the actual plot of this film. It really does look like a blast, though. The presence of Peter Sarsgaard as a lawman is an added bonus, and I’m sure there will be other entertaining supporting cast members. Director James Mangold has made a number of good films, and the most important one that qualifies him for this movie, in my opinion, is “Identity,” the awesome thriller set at a motel on a stormy night from 2003. I’m looking forward to this movie quite a bit, and it’s a pity it’s not out until the summer.