Knight And Day

There are several films I wanted to see last year, but for one reason or another (usually, it was preserving my piggy bank), I couldn't go to see them.  Now that I can see them, it drives me nuts to see how good these films were; if only I could've been in theaters when they came out!

The Expendables was one such film; another was the action-packed adventure Knight And Day.

On her way to Boston, June meets a total stranger named Roy, and in no time at all, is thrust into a whirlwind adventure as she reluctantly accompanies Roy throughout America and Europe, encountering along the way government agents, a crime lord and his soldiers, and a potential weapon worth killing for.  Sounds like quite the rollercoaster ride, doesn't it?

Without doubt, Tom Cruise was the primary reason this film is as good as it is.  He handled himself well in all of the action scenes as a secret agent who must stay one step ahead of both his bosses and his enemies to stay alive, but the casualness he shows throughout the film as Roy in doing his job made me laugh hard.  I haven't laughed that hard at anything he's done since his performance in Tropic Thunder.  The other important role in the film, the character of June, was played well by Cameron Diaz, who provided quite a few laughs in her own right as the woman who winds up tagging along with the secret agent who's “got it”.

Some of the action scenes require a little suspension of disbelief, but it's not a big deal, as the story itself comes across as well-grounded (thanks to the script by Patrick O'Neill), and director James Mangold does a great job of presenting the story in a way that didn't confuse me as it unfolded.  A fun film with plenty of action and plenty of laughs, I give Knight And Day three (of four) stars.