KNIGHT and DAY

To say this has been a disappointing summer would be a massive understatement but the trailers made this look like a fun action comedy. Sure enough, Knight and Day is another great Tom Cruise vehicle, and hopefully the start of a new trend that may salvage the summer.

Knight and Day is a step into more lighthearted territory for Cruise, with this playing out like a comedic version of Collateral, mixed with Mission Impossible. Roy Miller is a great new character for Cruise, which allows him to both show off the comedic chops we saw him display in Tropic Thunder, yet at the same time not stray too far from the action heavy films his been making over the last decade or so. Imagine a slightly insane, lovesick version of Ethan Hunt, and you’ve pretty much got what he’s going for here. Luckily, this combination works, and Miller’s a very likable spy.

Helping matters enormously is that Cruise is paired with Cameron Diaz. In all honesty, Diaz has never been on of my favorites. I hated the Charlie's Angels films, and her recent run of films has been just dreadful. That said, Cruise and Diaz have great chemistry [the previously paired up in Vanilla Sky], and they make a good looking, likable couple on-screen.

Diaz plays a pretty average gal - with a really cool job restoring muscle cars, and she shows off some great comic chops of her own in some of the action scenes where she struggles to keep up with Cruise, although I thought they made her a tad too proficient in the big climactic motorcycle chase. I loved the recurring gag that has Miller drugging her every time things get a little too intense, especially during a sequence that shows flashes of a particularly elaborate escape including a boat chase, and a sky diving. It should also be said, Diaz still looks great in a bikini.

The only areas where Knight and Day comes off a little weak is in the villains department. Peter Sarsgaard, normally an incredible actor, is bland here. For some reason, he also adopts a Boston accent in some scenes, but ditches it in the next. Paul Dano also overdoes it a little as the scientist Cruise is supposed to be protecting. Dano’s a talented guy, but I find he does have the propensity to overact. The story is also a little weak but who cares? It’s all about the chemistry between Diaz and Cruise, with everything else just serving as the MacGuffin.

I really enjoyed Knight and Day, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun flick.

SRi: Who knows the significant of "DAY" in this title's movie angkat tangan!