'Knight and Day' review

Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise (Credit: Frank Masi/20th Century Fox)

June Havens (Cameron Diaz) is just trying to get home in time for her sister’s wedding when a chance encounter with Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) turns her life upside down. Roy claims to be a secret agent trying to protect a young scientist (Paul Dano) and his world-changing invention, but Roy’s boss (Viola Davis) and partner (Peter Sarsgaard) warn June that Roy is more dangerous than he seems. June doesn’t know who to trust, but she does know she’s beginning to fall in love with Roy.

The buzz: Cruise used to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Now he’s looking for his first real blockbuster since 2005’s “War of the Worlds.” He supposedly cut his salary to help get this movie financed, but there have been some ominous signs—including low awareness among moviegoers and marketing slammed as desperate and confusing—that “Knight and Day” is not going to connect with audiences.

The verdict: As nice as it is to see a grown-up summer movie not based on a toy, comic, video game or TV series, “Knight and Day” can’t deliver on its potential as one of the summer’s few original ideas. That’s partly because the film wears its influences—“North by Northwest,” “Charade,” “Romancing the Stone,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and any other blend of action, comedy and romance—on its sleeve, and in the process fails to bring anything really fresh, exciting or memorable to the screen. Director James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) doesn’t seem cut out for the light touch this movie needs (his previous attempt at romantic comedy, “Kate & Leopold,” should have been a warning sign) and despite, or maybe because of, years of development work on Patrick O’Neill’s original screenplay the plot and characters are surprisingly flimsy. Once the initial suspense over Roy’s intentions wears off, “Knight and Day” shifts from mildly intriguing to clumsy and predictable. The action keeps racing from one exotic location to the next, but the emotions never connect. Under better circumstances, Cruise and Diaz might have been able to generate some real chemistry, but with characters so vague, direction so uninspired and dialogue so bland they never have a chance.

Did you know? Cruise and Diaz were game to do as many of the movie’s stunts as possible. Diaz claims she had scrapes and bruises from the action scenes when she attended this year’s Golden Globes.

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