New Review: Knight and Day

Action Tide

For what it's worth, I like Tom Cruise, and it's not just because he and I share a birthday. I like him because he's a damned fine actor who's generally been able to balance the serious dramatic work with the action junkie that has made him famous. Today, it seems like the only good Cruise is an understated Cruise, and his best performances in the past few years have usually been roles where he puts aside that manic energy for more quiet tones. It seems like he's trying to balance both in has latest film, and the results are something that I do not share any strong opinion.

Cruise plays Roy Miller, a burnt government operative caught in a plot involving double-crossing agents and a newly created power supply. In his efforts to to elude the ones trying to bring him in, he catches a plane, which also happens to carry June, played by Cameron Diaz. The two of them begin they're unlikely match up and set against bullets, explosions and blood-splattered walls, these two kids might end up falling for each other.

Director James Mangold isn't someone which a huge pedigree for action, even though his last film, the remake of 3:10 to Yuma was a respectable piece of work. Here, there's a sense that he sets up every action scene quite well, and plays with the frame in an interesting way. However, the actual action sequences are very banal and bland. There's no wonder in this film, and everything just feels by the numbers and boring. Not to mention that Patrick O'Neill's first time script is lacking in both with and imagination. As the plot crawls along, there's very little to attract the much needed attention a film like this needs.

As I said, Cruise is attempting to balance the hyperactive persona with a more serious tone, but he seems to strike in the opposite end. To be fair, he has some likable moments in a few charming places, but most of the time his manic energy is not wanted, and it strikes the wrong chord. Diaz does have a lot of charm, and she scores some laughs when trying to work with some rather dead material. The rest of the cast sinks to the bottom: Peter Sarsgaard is a bland, generic villain, Paul Dano as genius in protective custody isn't eccentric enough to be memorable, and Viloa Davis continues to be wasted in another nothing role.

I wish I could say that I absolutely loved or hated this film. I wish I could have anything of passion to say about it, but I don't. This is a movie that was in one ear and out the other, and I could feel the film's rays not affecting me in the least bit. It feels incredibly mediocre, and there is nothing astonishing to marvel or mock. The action is bland, the plot is uninteresting, and the acting doesn't mine much territory. Tom Cruise has certainly done worst in the past, but if he was looking to jumpstart his action career again, I'd say it's time to team up with Michael Mann or Paul Thomas Anderson one more time.

C+