KNIGHT AND DAY was another one of those summer blockbusters that I didn’t actually get to review for the site this year. Too much passed me by in 2010, which somewhat fails me as a film critic I know, but I have managed to catch the film on the home formats ahead of release.
I review the James Mangold directed action comedy on the Blu-Ray format, using a Samsung hi-def BD player, Sony Bravia 40″ HD TV, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound set up, and a pint of London Pride, a new ale for me that I am getting quite a taste for. Important to let readers know the surroundings, circumstances and indeed equipment that I use to bring this review to you.
The film stars Cameron Diaz as June Havens, just an ordinary girl from Boston who is transporting some very rare classic care parts across America. At the airport where she is taking said flight, June literally bumps into Tom Cruise‘s Roy Miller, a very mysterious, but kind character who she very quickly warms to. After initially being told that the flight was fully booked, June is eventually let onto the plane, only to see it pretty much empty save a couple of dodgy looking moustached heavies and Roy. From this point in, June is led into Roy’s secret world as she becomes part of a puzzle which involves a ‘globetrotting cat-an-mouse chase’ adventure.
I know that during the time of release, KNIGHT AND DAY received some very luke warm reviews from critics and fans. Certain personal friends went to see it and loved it, while others decribed it quite differently and said that it was best to avoid and go and see INCEPTION again instead. It was with this that I plugged the Blu-Ray into my player and pressed the play button.
Now, I am a massive fan of Tom Cruise, despite during his career achieving wonderful highs (TOP GUN, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE) and disappointing lows (EYES WIDE SHUT, VANILLA SKY). In fact, all of these aforementioned films I actually enjoyed in some way. I loved the guy in JERRY MAGUIRE, in MINORITY REPORT and in THE FIRM, easily the best John Grisham adaptation in my mind but I didn’t like VALKYRIE though. With TROPIC THUNDER in 2008, Cruise started the momentum that led to KNIGHT AND DAY and stopped taking himself so seriously, and this film, which reunites the actor with VANILLA SKY co-star Cameron Diaz, sees Cruise definitely in comedy mode, nodding to a lot of his previous roles in action films, tongue firmly in cheek. His chemistry with Diaz is in no doubt electric, and the duo ignite the screen together, and clearly are dear friends off camera. Diaz also does what she does best, and in the role of June, plays the screaming blonde ordinary gal very well. She’s fine. Cruise is fine. The directing is fine. The movie is fine. It’s just that, while I enjoyed it whilst sipping on my ale and dipping my Doritos into a previously prepared cheese and chive dip, it didn’t give me anything ‘amazing’ to recall as I type this review. The action sequences are far fetched, and almost cartoon like in their conception and execution, and yes there are some wonderful visuals from the number of different locations used in the film (we are taken to the likes of Boston, Austria, Spain and the tropics of Jamaica), but it didn’t give me any lasting impression.
I found that some of the action sequences and the obvious CGI used were a little ropey in places. I thought that it was obvious that Cruise, while mastering and executing most of the action set pieces himself, was definitely not doing it in others. I got quite annoyed by Diaz is some scenes, I didn’t particularly take or was convinced by Peter Sarsgaard‘s villain, and the whole ‘I’m going to knock you out so that we can get ourselves off to another exotic location very quickly’ stuff a bit over used. However, I did like that all of it is not taken too seriously. I like Cruise mocking his previous credits, and Cameron Diaz, while annoying in this role, still delivers as the dizzy blonde in distress.
I thought that it was ‘alright’. I know that that is vague, but taking into consideration all of the negative points that I raised above it’s still an okay movie. It’s just not anything that will set the world on fire, and it’s not a film that may stand up to repeat viewing.
The Extras: So, the Blu-ray comes with the standard BD disc, DVD version and digital copy, so that you can watch it on the move. We get some nice little extra features, including a fairly detailed ‘making of’ in the form of docs ‘Wilder Knights and Crazy Days’ and ‘Boston Days and Spanish Knights’. They run for about 10-12 minutes each and feature interviews with the director, stars and crew. A particular stand out point is the Tom Cruise stunt feature, which shows Tom literally launching himself off of an Austrian building with only a wire to catch him. The guy really wallops himself against the wall underneath, so really, I do take my hat off to the guy. We are also ‘treated’ to a 10 minute ‘Knight and “Someday”: Featuring The Black Eyed Peas and Tom Cruise’ feature, which is basically Tom meeting the ‘Peas’ at a London gig where they debut their song from the film. Tom joins them on stage, while will.i.am spins the track. Cue [a lot of] dancing and a huge ad for Bacardi. We also get two viral videos, which were released online during the theatrical campaign, theatrical trailer and a few trailers for other FOx releases at the start-up part of the disc menu. I will also mention that the film has the option to view the theatrical or ‘extended’ version of the movie. Since I have only seen the extended version, I cannot comment on the difference between the two, but the extended version did seem a little over-long. Hence the reason for the trimming theatrically no doubt.
KNIGHT AND DAY? Popcorn fodder. Perfect popcorn fodder for an easy watch on a Saturday night in, or beer and crisps in my own case.
Grade: C+
KNIGHT AND DAY is released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on December 13th, 2010.
