Though it's nowhere near the same league as Tom Cruise's ever-evolving Mission Impossible franchise, Knight and Day contains a much rarer element which has seldom been seen in the grinny actor's body of work: enjoyable humor.
Not that I'm saying Knight and Day deserves to get the Airplane! treatment (that was already done by the late Leslie Nielsen in Spy Hard); simply put, it's a real treat to see daredevil stunts, hair trigger shootouts and daring escapes, but with some humorous tinges. The same way that Pierce Brosnan bridged the gap between an angry Bond (Timothy Dalton) and Bond-Lite (Roger Moore), Tom Cruise rejuvenates his own movie by mixing it up without resorting to slapstick.
Ironically, I reviewed this film theatrically back in June, giving it a 2 out of 5 at the time. Having now perused some of the magic behind the curtain by way of the bluray extras, I have slightly more respect for the cast and crew who bravely executed some of the more impressive stunts seen during the film. This explains my extra point granted this bluray release, which looks and sounds the part.
An Overview of Knight and Day
June Havens (Cameron Diaz, Shrek Forever After) is an avid car restorer who owns her very own garage where she expertly puts back collector cars together. During one of her cross-country flights chasing down some spare parts from junkyards to restor her late father's GTO, June encounters the charming Roy Miller (Tom Cruise, Valkyrie), who happens to be on the same flight to Boston as she is.
Unbeknownst to June, Roy is in fact a highly trained spy currently on the run from the FBI on suspicion of having dealings with a missing genius inventor named Simon Feck (Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood), who is responsible for the creation of a device called a "Zephyr" which is capable of producing perpetual energy.
Unsure of whether she can trust this charming yet extremely skilled spy, June ends up traveling with him from one mysterious location to another, with FBI Agent Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard, An Education) hot on their tail, believing her to be in league with Miller.
With both the safety of June and Simon as his prime responsibility, can Roy keep the Zephyr out of the wrong hands while exposing the culprits behind the attempts to deny the world free energy for the sake of profit?
Knight and Day Plot Riddled with Bullet Sized Plot Holes
This film has all the necessary ingredients of your typical spy genre action vehicle: a daunting hero, a damsel in distress, a corrupt villain, and a MacGuffin in the form of a futuristic device everyone is chasing for.
What the film seems to lack is a series of plausible connections between action scenes.
The first thing most will notice while watching this film is how often Tom Cruise's Roy Miller happens to either drug or knock-out Diaz' June, allegedly for her own safety. As convenient a plot device as this may seem, it comes off as rather lazy writing to the audience.
Granted, it's probably much easier to move the narrative forward by having June pass out on a tropical island, only to wake up seconds later on board a train crossing the Alps, but it gives off a sense that some footage may have been prematurely cut, or the screenwriter opted for the easy way out, rather than show the dynamic duo commuting from A to B to C and back.
Which is a pity. Much of the fun and humor of Knight and Day stems from the dialogue between Cruise and Diaz, who are having a little more fun than in their previous pairing in the much more dramatic Vanilla Sky several years back.
This time around, the chemistry is a little more obvious, but still comes off as forced. You'd see these two as friends in an ensemble comedy, just not as a viable couple. If anything, they are both too extroverted to plausibly pay any attention to each other in a romantic plot.
All the same, there is enough action in this film to satisfy Cruise film fans, including some impressive chase scenes through a running of the bulls in Spain, a rooftop foot chase and a Boston highway game of cat and mouse. Most impressive is the fact that Cruise himself did the majority of the stunts, if only to cater to his loyal viewers.
Bonus Features to be Found on the Knight and Day Bluray
A handful of short-length features appear on the bluray, such as the pair of docs showcasing the extensive work done around the globe in order to convey the intensity of the hair raising stunts Cruise performs with a minimum of green screens.
Director James Mangold talks us through some of the more complex stunts, including Cruise and Diaz on a Ducati motorcycle, surrounded by real bulls during the film's climactic scene. The revelation that the actors did their own stunts does add to the quality of the finished product in retrospect.
Those into soundtrack may enjoy the short segment on Tom Cruise visiting the Black Eyed Peas on stage during their London, England concert. The group performs the song "Someday" during the end credits.
The Final Word on Knight and Day
While not as believable or polished as Cruise's M:I franchise, this film does have enough bang for your buck that you can overlook the gaping plotholes and weak storyline in favor of some memorable one-liners and incredibly fun stunts.
Take the entire movie with a grain of salt. It's decent escapism, a standard popcorn film for the whole family...well, families who like lots of guns, explosions and devices that can destroy the world.
Knight and Day Bluray: 3 out of 5
Dominic Messier - Dominic Messier is a Toronto-based Film & TV writer, Sci-Fi TV and Film Dramas Topic Editor, and creator of PopCultureLandscape.com
