Knight and Day

Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible) is funny! At this stage in his career I think it is his most endearing quality. We already know that Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels) can mix action with comedy. The two of them together are delightful. This is a fun, crazy, manic film! I found myself smiling throughout.

Knight and Day is a clever mix of everything we love about action films with an amusing blend of sight gags and character driven comedy. I love the over the top absurdity of this film which bordered on the line of satire. It thrilled and tickled you at the same time. Thinking back now on some of the visuals still has me chuckling. What should have been menacing becomes ridiculous by the pure improbability of it. I thought that some of the sight gags were brilliant.

Cameron Diaz plays a classic car mechanic who is unwittingly used as a mule by super spy Tom Cruise to get a top secret device past airport security. At first she falls for his charm and is flattered by his attention, but when she discovers his true purpose and the danger she is in, she becomes hysterical and he drugs her to shut her up. She wakes up in her own bed, and for a moment thinks it’s a dream. But when he leaves little notes around her house and she is visited by the FBI, she knows she is in the middle of something big.

I really got a kick out of the running gag which had her constantly being drugged and then waking up in a strange place. It reminded me of when I was a kid traveling across country in a camper. I would wake up and have to look out the window to see what state I was in. But in this film she wakes up in Spain, Austria, South America and other exotic locations. It is a very funny bit that is put to good use.

For villainy we have Peter Sarsgaard (An Education) as a rogue agent, and Jordi Molla (Che: Part Two) as a Spanish arms dealer. Viola Davis (Doubt) portrays FBI Director George, who backs the wrong agent, and Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) plays a young genius who invents a brilliant new technology. He is the one that Cruise is protecting, and it is his invention that everyone is trying to steal.

Besides great car chases, explosions, and hand to hand combat, Knight and Day also takes us all over the world. It is fun, adventurous, charming and cool. What a great summer romp and date movie. Both the guys and the girls will love this one.

Rating: First Run The perfect summer romp