"Knight and Day" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Lord Dalek]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/lorddalek/KNDfinal.jpg


Release Date: June 23, 2010
Studio: 20th Century Fox/New Regency
Director: James Mangold
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (Super 35)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard

Plot Summary: June Havens (Diaz) finds her everyday life tangled with that of a secret agent (Cruise) who has realized he isn't supposed to survive his latest mission. As their campaign to stay alive stretches across the globe, they soon learn that all they can count on is each other.

COMMENTS?

LD Movie Talkback #113

[NewcomerDC]

Looks like the movie's already being ripped by the critics.

http://www.studiobriefing.net/2010/06/movie-reviews-knight-and-day/

[Lord Dalek]

Its a brainless action picture. Not much depth. More plotholes than Swiss cheese. Lapses of any sort of logic. But it IS entertaining, which is more than can be said about SOME movies this summer.

***/*****

[NewcomerDC]

What can I say about Knight and Day? Besides to avoid confusion of the animated short Day and Night that precedes Toy Story 3, the movie’s out to prove that Cameron Diaz is a numb skull and Tom Cruise, underneath that bright, white smile of his, is crazier than ever. Then again, you may never know what goes on in his mind. Diaz plays June Havens , a woman who just got out of a relationship with a fire fighter (Marc Blucas) on her way to Boston in time for her sister’s (Maggie Grace) wedding, and an auto aficionado, and bumps into Roy Miller (Cruise) in the airport with him to switch their tickets before boarding for their flight on the same plane and snatching up an action figure, a knight I might add, that, revealed later, contains a battery that has an energy source equal to the power of the Sun. Wait, didn’t Dr. Octopus has a plan similar to this? Yeah, this plot’s so 2004. Once both characters are on the plane, we get a fight with Roy and a few men who we find out are a part of an organization who also wants the battery that was invented by Shia LeBeouf 2.0.It ends with June kissing Roy with her ending in her house the next day after Roy makes a crash landing of the plane in a cornfield and being drugged to make sure that she doesn’t have a clue about everything that happened until learning the truth leading into another chase sequence. With some advice such as ‘whenever someone says that ‘You’ll be safe, that means he/she/they will kill you, there are many times when June go against Roy’s words and follow her gut to end up with him having to save her from a lot of tight spots from a highway chase to a shoot-out at an abandoned warehouse to the Running of the Bulls. The plot goes in so many directions that I wonder how many frequent flier miles Roy collected. Then again when you have a various assortment of vehicles such as a helicopter, a motorboat, and traveling in a car on top of a tow truck, who would need them? If he gets on a plane again, maybe he can join Ryan Bingham from Up in the Air and talk about what are their purposes for going to so many exotic locations.

I liked Cruise when he’s trying to be a super cool spy but hated Diaz. I’m sorry but like I said previously, when Roy give June warnings about what could happen with her if he doesn’t follow his guidance or stay with him as if she’s being given a death wish but later appreciating it for her to develop feelings for out titular hero. From going in vehicles with the villains tracking down Roy to riding with him with guns in hand on a motorcycle through Spain, I’m supposed to find something charming about her but she comes off as another dumb blond, a stereotype that’s still alive to this day. What came out of left field is that after seeing her learn how to get out of the muscle-bound bear hug, she uses this to her advantage while dealing with an assassin on a train in the Alps with one of her hands flipping a butcher knife to fly into his chest only to have him pull it out to finish off fighting against Roy. I’ll even throw this in for fun. He dies leaving Roy to be the victor: The End. Fast forward to June now being the super cool spy with repeating dialogue spoken to her by Cruise before we end off jet flying half-way around the world to ensure that Roy’s in good hands in the final 5 minutes of the film. Add an unnecessary, and what could be a forgetful auto-tune song brought to you in part by the master himself T-Pain inserting the film’s title bringing up another topic to be discussed in relation to the film: what's with the title Knight and Day?


If we’re talking about June, shouldn’t the film be Knight and June? This summer has been a disappointment across the board despite a small number of hits but this film delivers a lot of action but is lacking a story. We all know that Disney’s latest money-maker is going to be number 1 again this weekend even though Pixar didn’t want to make one in the first place. Then again, what I just said is hear say but I did get confirmation that Mickey did have a gun pointed at Mr. Lasseter’s head when he denied continuing the series because the ending of Toy Story 2 had the theme of the toys having to let go from their owner as he grows up. What Toy Story 3 had were characters that were intelligent, witty, and didn’t have to take their shirts off to gain the attention to the ladies in the audience. That would be Ken’s job provided that he did it off-screen. Thinking back to the film, I wanted to ask the question: why is Cruise taking off his shirt? Next Wednesday’s going to be filled with more shirtless men showing off their abs while discussing their plans to deal with the Werewolf/Vampire Battle that will probably end in a whimper or, at least, worse special effects than next week’s other supposedly big hit:


M. Night Shymalan’s The Last Airbender.


Review for that film will be coming up next week provided that I’m able to see the darn thing.

[Lord Dalek]

Originally the film was titled "Wichita" which makes a little more sense than the oblique refference to Roy's past we get with the new title

And yeah Diaz is nothing more than a Mary Sue for about half of this film. At times I expected Kate Capshaw to be saying some of these lines, it was that aggravating.

[The Penguin]

I was in a movie-seeing mood and thought this seemed like it could be fun so I went to it on Friday.

Other than the alternate spelling, I don't get the title either. The only thing I have been able to come up with is perhaps a reference to the contrast of the two stories June is presented with (from Roy and Fitzgerald/George). One could say they were as different as "night and day."

Overall, I thought it was not a bad movie, but not a great one. It was somewhat boring in some parts and kind of fun/funny in others. I shudder to think what this would have been like with "lesser" actors in the two main roles. I can tell you one thing for sure, it wouldn't have been released in late June. Regardless of one's feelings on Tom Cruise, I think most could agree that he has a considerable amount of wit and charm and that carries the movie. Cameron Diaz's June on the other hand, crosses the line from defiantly spunky to idiotic in very short order.

[Michael24]

Finally got around to seeing the movie this afternoon and thought it was great fun. Here's what I said to say about it on LiveJournal . . .

The film moves along at a brisk pace, and the whole time we're left to wonder: is Roy really telling the truth, or are the Federal agents who are after them really the good guys? Why are they after them? And what's the secret behind the house Roy is keeping video surveillance of via his phone? There are many secrets in the film, as stories are told, lies get tossed about, and loyalties seem to shift, and finding out the truth behind everything is part of the fun. The humor works well and there are several laugh-out-loud bits, and a handful of those "Oh, holy crap!" kind of moments. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (looking her best since The Mask, I might add, including a nice bikini scene) have great chemistry, Cruise does a good job making us wonder if Roy really is crazy or just very quirky, and there's borderline over-the-top action scenes that are a lot of fun without being too flashy like some other films. If I have one complaint, it's that some of the film's events are "skipped over" due to Roy drugging June, thus we see certain events from her POV as she fades in and out of consciousness, only catching glimpses of what's going on. But it's kind of a neat touch and provides some humor, and there's certainly plenty of other action we do get to see.

Overall, it's a fun film with two game stars, lots of exciting action, and some nice locations. If you're looking for just a fun (and funny) action/adventure/comedy, you could do far worse than Knight and Day.

3/5