Roundabout Christmas, we got our first look at the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz/James Mangold romantic-action-comedy “Knight & Day,” and it was… well, a little underwhelming. Most of the comedy fell a little flat, and some of the action felt a bit weightless. IMDB premiered a new trailer for the movie last night, and it does at least seem like an improvement.
The film follows a woman who becomes embroiled with a secret agent, and this longer clip gives a clearer look at some of the supporting cast (Mark Blucas, Viola Davis and Peter Sarsgaard), as well as a better idea of the ambiguous nature of Cruise’s character. The comedy’s not looking much better (there doesn’t seem to be a ton of chemistry between the two stars), but we’re at least impressed by the old fashioned feel to the action; there doesn’t seem to be too much reliance on CGI or shakey-cam, which is sort of refreshing these days.
We did enjoy the Scott Frank draft of the script we read, but it looks to have been rewritten fairly heavily by director James Mangold, so we’re not sure how much it’ll hold. The most intriguing part of the film seems to be in the casting of Cruise; just as “Up in the Air” provided a sort of meta-commentary on George Clooney’s public persona, the idea of Cruise playing a former superspy who’s taken ‘a total break from reality’ seems to mirror the path his career’s taken in the last few years.
It really boils down to whether the action is enough reward to sit through the weak humor. So far I have not been convinced. Perhaps there's a reason it was moved from its original release date to avoid competition.
I dunno, Cruise playing a nutball? I kinda like it, or at least the beginning of it, but it quickly devolves and the CGI near the end is terrible.
I was skeptical at first but after seeing this trailer, I'm hoping the film succeeds in what it is going for. And what is it going for? Well, I can't say for sure, but it appears some kind of blend between a screwball comedy and a visceral action film. I like that it doesn't seem to take itself seriously, which the Mission Impossibles failed to do. And because they don't take themselves seriously it frees them up to do more over the top stuff and get away with it. Cruise seems to be having fun, and the action does look pretty cool. I'm thinking something along the lines of a bigger budget The Big Hit.
I think "Knight & Day" would be a lot more fun and interesting if Cruise's character *is* crazy and thinks he's being hunted, rather than it turning into your standard blah blah blah whatever movie.
That CGI running of the bulls scene is pretty embarrassing too.
The Bull Fighter scene looks horrendous, terrible green screen. Too bad I really HATE Diaz, wish it was someone else in that role.
Funny how the world changes. 10 years ago this would have been a huge huge hit, no question. Now, I'm not so sure.
The whole thing feels so familiar. It certainly looks like more fun than "Salt", but it also feels like it has lifted the funny/action rhythm from a dozen other pictures over the last decade. Cruise looks to be on his game and it would be great to see him at full power once again. But the tone is just off. Take that gag at the end where Diaz wanders into the line of fire prematurely – uggh. I mean how ineffective are these "bad guys" that they can unload that much firepower and not hit her? That is "Three Stooges" territory.
It's a bit off from the notes it should hit. But I'm intrigued nonetheless. It'll certainly be a test for Tom Cruise's box office cred. And it does look like fun.