Knight and Day

In today's date, when the cinematic condition are pretty shallow this movie has proved to be a big sigh of relief. Big budget film with amazing sta... read more

In today's date, when the cinematic condition are pretty shallow this movie has proved to be a big sigh of relief. Big budget film with amazing star cast and absolutely original story line is something which is highly commendable. I will not say that the movie is too amazing but still looking at current situation it dazzles.

Knight and Day is a complete package containing action adventure as well as good humor. The feather on the cap is its actors Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. After being highly appreciated in Vanilla Sky, they are seen together once again, which is a treat to the eyes.

Tom Cruise is a government agent who goes out of his way to complete his mission and Diaz is an innocent who gets stuck with Cruise just because they boarded the same flight. It consists of outrageous stunts, perfect twists and off-course a powerful star-shine. The entire movie is revolving around a small battery which is so powerful that it can change the face of the entire world. The urge to save the battery is so high that Tom and Diaz race all across globe. By the time story reaches its climax, you will be so engrossed in it as if you stuck on a chair.

It's catchy one-liners, strong dialogue delivery, good comedy, intelligently staged stunts and energetic star-cast are more than enough of reasons to make this flick worth a watch. Director James Mangold sensibly makes a perfect blend between humor and seriousness so that audience can relate to it.view less

Any Tom Cruise movie always comes with a great amount of curiosity. Add the spice of pairing up with Cameron Diaz and the expectations have already... read more

Any Tom Cruise movie always comes with a great amount of curiosity. Add the spice of pairing up with Cameron Diaz and the expectations have already shot up higher....make it an action flick with James Mangold at the helm (Identity, Copland, 3:10 to Yuma) and one starts expecting the roof! One wouldnt say that the movie lives upto its expectations on all the counts, but yes it does leave you with a smile in the end.

Knight and Day follows the adventures of Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) and June Havens (Cameron Diaz). Tom is supposedly a rogue spy who is trying to keep the mysterious zephyr out of evil hands. After literally bumping into Miller, twice at the airport on the way home from Wichita to pick up car parts, Havens is told she has been bumped to a later flight. Meanwhile, Agent Fitzgerald (Peter Saarsgard), believing Havens is working with Miller, puts her back on the plane.

So Tom crash lands a passenger jet into a field, where he and June, literally, walk away against the backdrop of the plane being blown away. After all, its just a plane crash, all in a days work for our hero. It is after this point, that things actually start getting unrealistic. The movie then snowballs into a series of car chases, fights, beautiful locales and comic situations which for the script are supposed to be serious.

The first thirty or forty minutes are probably the best; the action scenes are fun and improbable in an engaging way, an improbability the rest of the film never quite matches upto. After some time, the tone slips away. The action and intrigue, which are supposed to dominate the storyline, become cartoonish backdrops to June falling for Roy.

Not much chemistry can get sparked when the movie's constantly leaping from one action scene to another. There was a great scope to make the dialogues witty (Rush Hour, Bad Boys type) but that is an opportunity missed here. Again, you see some witty exchanges in beginning, but then it just slips into the normal rigmarole. The lack of depth in dialogues is seen when Cameron Diaz actually delivers this line: Im restoring a 66 GTO and Kansas has the best scrap?

The lack of characterisation comes across glaringly in Cameron Diaz. Besides, screaming, fainting and looking harassed when she is not trying to look good, she doesnt have much to do. She doesnt come up as a partner to our Knight. Only the truth serum scene is where she has some scope to perform her oft portrayed comic girl avatar. Otherwise you see no difference from her performance as Natalie in Charlies Angels. Also, Cruise's manically grinning, possibly delusional persona isn't pushed in any interesting direction. The movie doesn't really give you a good enough reason for Roy to keep June around either and by the time you do crack it, you're well in the film's grasp.

James Mangold keeps the film light and loose and allows Cruise and co-star Cameron Diaz to do most of the heavy lifting.

The special effects is another area where the team needed to work on. A simple thing like a motorcycle ride superimposed on the green screen is too easily visible. Shoddy to say the least and at times, it is this shoddiness that kills the thrill. Likewise, the screenplay tends to stretch a bit and you wish that the film would have been shorter by about 10 odd minutes.

Cruise is good in a role which suits him well. You love him every time he smiles or presents you with a situation wherein you feel compelled to wink ! Diaz sleep walks through majority of the film. Saarsgard has nothing much to offer, rather wasted. What was wrong with his accent? The point where the film lacks the punch is that there was an excellent opportunity created here wherein the audience had to keep guessing whether Cruise was rogue or not, but by keeping Saarsgards character more on the lines of Viola Davis sidekick, that track also failed. Imagine a John Travolta / Nicolas Cage scenario in Face/Off.

All said and done, enjoy this masala flick for what it is, an action comedy which does not take itself seriously, and neither should you. The 25+ crowd might not be able to connect with the film as they have no clue about Cruises phenomenal appeal amongst their mothers nor Diazs sex symbol image during The Mask. Considering the fact that it is this segment that primarily drives the weekend ticket sales, do not think this flick will do much business here.

Does it have the Y Factor : NO

Rating : 4/10

www.yusufpoonawala.com view less

This is not the story of a Knight in the shining armour that saves his damsel in distress; in fact, it is the Knight who is the reason for the gals... read more

This is not the story of a Knight in the shining armour that saves his damsel in distress; in fact, it is the Knight who is the reason for the gals distress. A power-packed, action comedy with a pair of good-looking actors and some light moments highlighting the pairs chemistry is what director James Mangolds Knight and Day is all about.

The opening scene looks like it is directly borrowed from some old Bollywood movie with the Hunk (Tom Cruise) and the gal (Cameron Diaz) bumping into each other. As luck be it, both end-up on the same flight and start chatting. Strangely, there are hardly any other fliers on the flight. The gal goes to the bathroom to freshen up and comes out with quite much preparation to attract the oh-so-very attractive hunk; only to find out that all the (handful of) fliers, including the crew and the pilots are dead. From here starts the journey of secrecy, confusion, lies and bullets. Cruise who is an (super secret) under-cover CIA agent has to deal with a bunch of copycat CIAs and an international drug peddler on his tow; and if thats not enough for him to handle, he has to now take care of Diaz who got pulled in this whole scandal unnecessarily. A lot of killing here and there in the hands of Cruise is shown; but surprisingly, everyone else involved in the scene are as calm and poised as if it is a part of their daily happenings. Diazs ability to forgive and trust the guy who keeps on drugging her and who makes her walk through a range of bullets instead of where she is actually supposed to be walking-her sisters wedding aisle- is admirable. How they both embark on this fun-filled, action-packed journey and try to come out of their little situation, is what must be seen to know!

The comic parts in the movie are good and well-timed. Cruise and Diaz although look a bit old, still manage to pull-off an impressive act together. Their chemistry is visible on-screenalmost enviable!

Overall, the James Bond-Matrix-like action and a good-looking couple with decent acting skills is what makes this movie worth one watch.
view less

What happened to the charmer in Jerry Maguire and how did Cameron Diaz lose her sense of humour? It was hard to sit through Knight and Day without ... read more

What happened to the charmer in Jerry Maguire and how did Cameron Diaz lose her sense of humour? It was hard to sit through Knight and Day without feeling frustrated, especially at Diaz who insisted on going wrong every two minutes. Tom Cruise on the other played a predictable role. You knew his every move ten minutes before he actually went through with it. Actually to be honest, the same could be said about the whole story itself. No surprises at all.

I literally felt that I was watching a Bollywood movie starring Cruise and Diaz and Akshay Kumar was just around the corner waiting to jump off a plane and make a guest appearance. The action was overdone and most of it was unnecessary. Planes crashing to jumping through driving cars to landing up in exotic locations within seconds. I was just not expecting any of this from Knight and Day.

The movie was a complete disappointment and it can definitely be missed.
view less

KNIGHT AND DAY tells the tale of two strangers that have a chance meeting at an airport which leads to a very different destination than neither o... read more

KNIGHT AND DAY tells the tale of two strangers that have a chance meeting at an airport which leads to a very different destination than neither of them expected changing both of their lives forever
June Havens (Cameron Diaz Something about Mary, Charlie's Angels) is planning to attend her sister's wedding whilst everything changes when she bump into Roy Miller (Tom Cruise Mission Impossible, Collateral, Jerry Maguire) - a maverick secret agent who has suddenly realized that as well as the bad guys his own side has turned on him as well. They very soon form an unlikely team once they discover that the only ones that they can trust are each other.
The FBI / CIA and several bad gangs and governments are all after the permanently re-generating power source that is in Roy Miller's possession and would do anything (including bumping off their own man) to get it!
Lot's of cool action scenes and stunts interspersed with some great comedy one-liners and visual gags (especially funny is the "truth drug" scene)
The very assured, able direction is by James Mangold (Cop Land, Walk the Line, Girl Interrupted) who seems to revel in these high-octane adventure movies. The film is well paced and the story works with many twists and turns that should keep everyone interested. The thing that normally makes or breaks these types of movies is the chemistry between the main leads and in this film it works really well as I think that this film is a vehicle made for Cruise and Diaz and they excel in these types of roles. I think that KNIGHT AND DAY will be a very successful movie and I wouldn't be surprised if there were sequels to come.



A great KNIGHT out that'll make your DAY!
view less