Susan Granger’s review of “Knight and Day” (20th Century-Fox)
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz team up for a stunt-filled, spectacular escapade that careens from Boston to Witchita, from the an atoll in the Azores to a train ride through the Alps, forcing them to outmaneuver rampaging bulls in Seville and leap rooftops in Austria – all for a mysterious mission.
Charismatic Roy Miller (Cruise) says he’s a government agent but he behaves more like a genial, adventurous assassin-on-the-loose when he commandeers a jetliner on which car restorer June Havens (Diaz) is a passenger. After he crash-lands in a Kansas cornfield, she becomes his hostage/partner, an endangered fugitive who has been thrust into an international incident. It seems that Roy’s duty is to protect a new perpetual energy source, a battery called the Zephyr, along with its young genius inventor, geeky Simon Feck (Paul Dano) – and someone has set him up. While Roy assures June he’s a good guy, why are all those menacing CIA agents (Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis) on their trail, not to mention a nefarious arms dealer (Jordi Molla)? Dodging a continuous barrage of bullets, Roy seemingly evaporates from one country to another, hauling drugged, disoriented but increasingly enamored June along for the ride until she decides teaming up with him on this dangerous dash is far more fun than ordinary life. But who is he – and what is he really up to?
While Tom Cruise cleverly captures the enigma that defines Roy, intoning, “Help me help you,” director James Mangold (“Walk the Line,” “3:10 to Yuma”) concentrates more on the duplicitous comedic action than the narrative connective tissue. As a result, the misdirection and diversion inherent in Patrick O’Neill’s frayed-and-fragmented espionage script are, at times, quite incomprehensible. So it’s best to just sit back, clutch your popcorn and hang on for the fun-filled craziness, as Cruise, Diaz and their doubles adroitly execute the incredible stunt work with the help of CG digital trickery.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Knight and Day” is an exotic, edgy, escapist 7, delivering an exhilarating if exhausting thrill ride.
