Knight and Day

[4.0 stars] [IMDB Link]

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It took awhile for Knight and Day (a movie originally released in the summer of 2010) to work itself to the top of the Netflix queue, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Yes, it's a crass, shameless, commercial bit of dumb fun aimed strictly at moneymaking. But I decided to concentrate on the fun. Nothing wrong with that.

(And, for a crass, shameless, commercial movie, it didn't do that well in theatres: in its opening weekend, it came in behind Toy Story 3 and an Adam Sandler comedy.)

So anyway: Cameron Diaz plays June, on her way back to Boston from picking up some vintage car parts in Wichita. (She's an ace mechanic restoring her dad's old GTO for her sister's wedding present.) She runs into—literally—handsome stranger Roy at the airport. Fate (together with some behind-the-scenes help from a bunch of all-seeing CIA agents) put June and Roy on a near-empty flight together; it turns out that it's near-empty for the sole purpose of trapping Roy: he's suspected of murdering a bunch of CIA agents and stealing a Macguffin.

Well, it's only a matter of minutes before Roy prevails against another half-dozen or so agents. (Self defense! Stand your ground!) He and June find themselves on the run.

There are a lot of spectacular stunts, PG-13 violence, and explosions for the adolescent guys (both actual and perpetual, like me). There's girl-whisked-way-by-mysterious-and-dangerous-stranger romance for the ladies. June is a clueless ditz when the plot demands it; she is resourceful and courageous when the plot demands that. And Tom Cruise plays Roy as consistently and amusingly upbeat and good-humored, even with bullets whizzing by, high-speed chases, crashes, etc. The movie doesn't take itself seriously, probably a good idea.


Last Modified 2024-01-28 7:59 AM EDT