Monday, June 28, 2010
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Monday, June 28, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Knight And Day
Simon Says: This Mission Is
A Walk In The Park, Right?
Cameron Diaz as June Havens and Tom Cruise as Roy Miller in James Mangold's
"Knight And Day".
Fox
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Monday, June 28, 2010
There's a moment early on in "Collateral" (2004) where Vincent, played by Tom
Cruise, says to Jamie Foxx's cabdriver character Max Durocher following a
murder: "If it makes you feel any better, he was a criminal. Involved in a
continuing criminal enterprise."
For a nanosecond Mr. Cruise looks as if he'll break into a smile after wryly
delivering the line. He doesn't. It's a faintly blithe moment of comedy
wrapped in Vincent's sociopathic ways, and it's this comedic part of the
"Collateral" character that plays out in full in Mr. Cruise's latest incarnation
as the breezy, laid-back and mysterious Roy Miller in "Knight And Day", an
amalgam of previous Tom Cruise films, even if James Mangold's film is at times
playful, fun and vigorous.
Alas, the fun and vigor wear thin before too long and in the few moments where
Cameron Diaz, reunited with Mr. Cruise after working on "Vanilla Sky" nine years
ago, isn't screaming or panicking, she is good enough as June Havens, a lady who
bumps randomly (or not so) into Roy, ala the opening of "Collateral", at an airport. It's
not necessarily clear what June does for a living in Boston, nor does it
necessarily matter, but we know she's
curiously drawn to a mystery man in Miller, a rogue FBI agent hunted as he tries
to protect a whiz kid (Paul Dano) holding a prized possession several
people are in search of.
This secondary hunt-the-rabbit who protects the bait-type plot is weak
filler for a film whose primary raison-d'être is the relationship and chemistry between Mr. Cruise and Ms.
Diaz. Their easy, carefree banter energizes this entertaining mix of
action and comedy. That we know little about Roy or June neither subtracts
or adds to the enjoyment of the film, which is laden with green screen and other
digital effects. When the tongue-in-cheek theater turns
solely action-ward despite hair-raising if not preposterous stunts however, the film
becomes stale and unspectacular.
"Knight And Day" seems to be three films in one, but they don't
unite. Patrick O'Neill's screenplay has some adequate dialogue, the bulk
of it via Mr. Cruise, but it's the introduction and revelation of subsequent
characters that unfortunately makes much of "Knight And Day" an afterthought. Mr. Mangold's film
uses the "mystery man" theme as a expedient justification allowing some
flaky, ill-conceived stock characters and situations (especially one
occurring late on) to flutter and swarm the narrative without adequate explanation
or coherence.
Like James Bond, "Knight And Day" travels the world, including Sevilla, Spain,
yet there appears a lack of time, place and context to the adventures. The
characters drift between lucid and altered states of being when the film isn't
busy echoing brief touches from "Eyes Wide Shut", "Minority Report", the
aforementioned "Vanilla Sky" and other films including "Mission: Impossible",
which "Knight And Day" smiles broadly at. Ethan Hunt seems ready to spring
forth from the edges of this film, and if Mr. Cruise doesn't at least
acknowledge him in this tailor-made vehicle, the smile Vincent leaves in that
Los Angeles taxi will eventually emerge.
With: Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Jordi Molla, Marc Blucas, Dale Dye, Celia
Weston, Gal Godot, Maggie Grace.
"Knight And Day" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for sequences of strong action violence throughout, and
brief strong language . The film's duration is one hour and
50 minutes.
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