As I watched James Mangold's "Knight and Day" I kept thinking to myself where I had seen this before? Then it hit me. The Ashton Kutcher-Katherine Heigl film, "Killers" that came out about two weeks ago. Both have the same concept. A ditsy blonde somehow paired up with a charming man who knows how to use a gun.
However, unlike "Killers," which was simple and entertaining, "Knight and Day" decided to go with a more complex plot about a conspiracy where you're not sure who to believe and where many people are saying contradictory things. But In the end it was unnecessarily complicated and at times didn't make sense.
Tom Cruise plays Roy Miller a C.I.A agent who has supposedly gone rogue. While in an airport he intentionally and literally bumps into June Havens (Cameron Diaz), an automobile restorer on her way to Boston for her sister's wedding. You're not really sure why they meet each other; in fact Cruise comes off as a creepy stalker at first.
Once they get on the airplane, and it's apparent they're falling for each other, Miller runs into trouble. The plane is a trap; Havens was put on the plane by the C.I.A and Miller has to fight off some professional killers.
After Miller kills everyone on board (that's right everyone) and crash-lands the plane, he drugs Haven and tells her that the C.I.A will try and convince her that he is dangerous.
By the way, this won't be the only drugging, there are about five more to follow. It's a way Mangold moves Diaz from one location to the next; she literally spends half the movie drugged.
Soon more plot twists are revealed. Miller is in possession of a very special battery that can never run out of power. The C.I.A wants it.
Then a couple druggings later, the two end up in Austria, where we are introduced to an international arms company. Havens is told by the C.I.A that Miller is trying to sell the battery to the company, but that isn't true, and we find out that the C.I.A is corrupted and working with the arms company and.... Oh man I need a nap.
I admire the fact that screenplay writers Patrick O'Neill, and Mangold developed this massive, elaborate plot for a rom-com. The part about the battery was interesting, but the film felt too cluttered. At times it was a James Bond movie, then a Jason Bourne movie, then a cheesy romance. Also there were a lot of things that weren't clarified, like when Havens (who has no experience with a gun) is somehow able to do a slick turn around on a motorcycle and shoot a car making it crash.
Cruise was the best part of the film. He looked like he was having fun with the script. He was funny and played his lines cool. Even though his character was one-dimensional, Cruise made him likable. Also, to his credit, he did his own stunts.
I wish I could say the same for Diaz. For the lead actress, she was completely useless. I would think you would want to involve the female character in plot somehow. Cruise said it better than I ever could, "She's a nobody, a drag along." Whenever Cruise would do something cool she would always stand in the background acting stupid and hopping around. Plus she was annoying and not at all funny.
I don't know if this film was supposed to amuse me or thrill me, but it did neither. Sure I giggled a couple of times but they were few and far between. As for the thrills, it was nothing but boring repetitive action that followed the same formula. It was draining and predictable.
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