Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:03 pm
Tom Cruise is a spy who may or may not be nuts. Cameron Diaz is a normal girl who gets wrapped up in Tom's current mission/insanity.
I want to take a moment to tip my cap to Hollywood. It has been a LONG time since I've seen three good popcorn films in a row. Knight and Day marks the third, The Expendables and Salt being the first two.
Knight and Day is Tom Cruise in a Jason Statham role: insane, over the top action with humor added. In fact, I'd argue that this was the perfect role for Tom Cruise after all the recent bad press he's received. Think about it, is he nuts or not? The role even comes off as saying "ok, maybe I've taken myself way too seriously". It really does. I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but it made him likable in this film.
The story has Tom in an airport waiting for a patsy, and that turns out to be Cameron. After an eventful flight they get reunited for an adventure that takes them around the world. Their travel times are covered up with a brilliant, completely cheating, and tongue fully in cheek method that I don't want to spoil for you. It's funny.
I'm not sold on Tom and Cameron's on screen chemistry, but both are good enough actors that they pull it off. Cameron also might have inadvertently revealed her ideal role here too. Remember how real she was in Charlie's Angels, particularly the opening scene? She gets to go into that "ditzy mode" again here and takes over the scenes, particularly towards the end. I think that's her thing.
Tom is not Tom. Hard to put into words, but this isn't a Cruise you've seen before. He had fun with this film, but there's something different. Again, I really think this film was a "please like me again" performance. Want some proof? There's a scene in the film where Tom enters a room next to someone he's protecting, a scared teenage nerd. Tom is this tough guy super spy, yet is shown on camera as a midget next to the nerd. This sort of thing didn't happen back when Tom was the biggest star in Hollywood. they don't even hide his height around Cameron. Like I said, he's different here.
The story here is almost meaningless. There's a plot that drives the story forward, but it's the characters that make this movie. Very cheesy, but it's entertaining and fun.
A popcorn film that your significant other will enjoy too.
7 out of 10.
I want to take a moment to tip my cap to Hollywood. It has been a LONG time since I've seen three good popcorn films in a row. Knight and Day marks the third, The Expendables and Salt being the first two.
Knight and Day is Tom Cruise in a Jason Statham role: insane, over the top action with humor added. In fact, I'd argue that this was the perfect role for Tom Cruise after all the recent bad press he's received. Think about it, is he nuts or not? The role even comes off as saying "ok, maybe I've taken myself way too seriously". It really does. I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but it made him likable in this film.
The story has Tom in an airport waiting for a patsy, and that turns out to be Cameron. After an eventful flight they get reunited for an adventure that takes them around the world. Their travel times are covered up with a brilliant, completely cheating, and tongue fully in cheek method that I don't want to spoil for you. It's funny.
I'm not sold on Tom and Cameron's on screen chemistry, but both are good enough actors that they pull it off. Cameron also might have inadvertently revealed her ideal role here too. Remember how real she was in Charlie's Angels, particularly the opening scene? She gets to go into that "ditzy mode" again here and takes over the scenes, particularly towards the end. I think that's her thing.
Tom is not Tom. Hard to put into words, but this isn't a Cruise you've seen before. He had fun with this film, but there's something different. Again, I really think this film was a "please like me again" performance. Want some proof? There's a scene in the film where Tom enters a room next to someone he's protecting, a scared teenage nerd. Tom is this tough guy super spy, yet is shown on camera as a midget next to the nerd. This sort of thing didn't happen back when Tom was the biggest star in Hollywood. they don't even hide his height around Cameron. Like I said, he's different here.
The story here is almost meaningless. There's a plot that drives the story forward, but it's the characters that make this movie. Very cheesy, but it's entertaining and fun.
A popcorn film that your significant other will enjoy too.
7 out of 10.