A few weeks ago a movie titled Killers was released. It stars Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. Heigl plays a woman who gets romantically involved with a man (Kutcher) who unbeknownst to her is an assassin for a government agency. The movie is silly and stupid. Now comes Knight and Day, which stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Diaz plays a woman who gets involved with a man (Cruise) who unbeknownst to her works for a government agency. This film is worse than Killers.
It is worse than Killers because it too is silly and stupid and stars Cruise and Diaz. We don't expect as much from a Kutcher/Heigl film as we do from a Cruise/Diaz one. These are two of Hollywood's brightest and most bankable stars and we expect a certain caliber of product from them. This film is a letdown in a variety of areas the top one being in the performances of the two stars. Cruise hasn't been this cocky and smirky in a long time, while Diaz plays a woman who is old enough to know better than get involved in the things she does. Diaz gives her the naiveté of a teenager.
June (Diaz) and Roy (Cruise) meet at an airport. She is headed west to attend a fitting for her bridesmaid's dress for her sister's wedding. He is going, well, we don't actually know where. On the plane she learns he is a federal agent who has an agenda and she gets drawn into it. The rest of the movie is spent determining whether or not good old Roy is crazy or if the government is.
Some of this is fun and fast action but none of it makes any sense. Roy comes off as some kind of superman. He can be surrounded by a host of shooters and they can never hit him, but he makes every shot count. That kind of silliness drives me crazy. Plus he takes gullible June around the world with him. Never mind that she doesn't have a passport with her or even a change of clothes. Somehow he makes all of these things appear like magic.
The script is a study in plot by numbers. Let's see, we need something to happen in Spain. Okay, we will put them on a motorbike and send them running with the bulls. Or maybe we need them on a tropical isle. Okay, we will have him drug her and when she wakes up she is on an island with him. It makes no sense at all!
It might have been a bit better if there had been some romance in the movie. Forget that. These two stars have zero chemistry together. No sparks fly. You keep pulling for June to get back with her old boyfriend Rodney (Marc Blucas), who is good-natured but kind of stupid acting.
The most maddening thing of all is the title makes no sense. We finally find out that Roy's real name is "Knight" but who the heck is "Day"? June's last name is Havens. Little things like that can drive an audience up the wall.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Cruise and Diaz are big Hollywood stars. They should know better than to get trapped in something as sloppy as this. It all looked good in the trailers but when you see the whole thing it just doesn't come together. Word of mouth should sink this one fast.
I scored "Knight and Day" a twilight 3 out of 10.
Jackie K. Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com