Knight and Day

So I pretty much knew going into this one that I wasn’t going to walk out just tweeting how awesome it was. ¬†I figured I would get some great Cruise’isms, a couple decent action scenes, and a sneering Peter Sarsgaard. ¬†All of that was there, but what I wasn’t counting on was Cameron Diaz’ out of place and out of touch character. ¬†I’ve also concluded that anytime a film goes out of its way to computer generate an animal, it usually ends in disastrous results. ¬†We’ll dissect that in a moment, but first let’s get this plot out of the way.

The ads for this film would have you believe this is some sort of True Lies / Mr. and Mrs. Smith-type copy cat film. ¬†Kind of, but kind of not. ¬†A chance encounter in a Wichita airport finds June (Diaz) and Roy (Cruise) flying on the same plane. ¬†Turns out that Roy is an exiled FBI or CIA agent (they never really clarified) and he’s on the run trying to protect a scientific wunderkind (Paul Dano) who has developed a new form of energy the bad guys desperately want. ¬†Roy finds himself in protector mode for June and then shit gets real.¬† The story acts as a loose frame for a couple of great action set pieces and a lot of humor.¬† There is almost nothing that occurs here you haven’t seen or experienced before, but it is a pretty fun ride.

For the most part…

You see, everything kind of falls apart towards the end.¬† I’m not exactly sure what it is, perhaps pacing or character relationships that just don’t gel, but somewhere around the time the third act starts up, I just lost interest.¬† I guess the good thing is that I wasn’t exactly loving the film to that point so I can’t say I hated the film’s last third.¬† It bears noting regardless so be aware if you plan to check out the movie.

The other thing you need to be prepared for is some of the really mediocre CGI effects you’ll have to sit through.¬† None are worse though than the horrible computer animated bulls during the climactic chase.¬† What’s really heartbreaking is they are used in a couple of really clever ways but it’s all a bust as you know that no bull was even there.¬† There’s a weird thing in movies where they feel the need to computer animate animals that could easily be done with a mixture of real and puppet versions.¬† The best example is the crazy-ass deer sequence from The Ring 2.¬† Although that scene is a little more convincing (at least it was when I last saw it in the theater) there was just no life behind the eyes of these things.¬† Even worse, I group up in a town overpopulated with deer so I knew what these things are supposed to look like.¬† Now the bulls may be justified since they can’t have Tom Cruise on a dirt bike being charged by cows but I would much rather take a stunt driver over the absurd visuals in this film.¬† It doesn’t completely ruin the film since, as I stated, the effects are a little questionable as it is.¬† But it doesn’t help either.

Given the film has been out for a while, I’m sure you made up your mind long before coming upon this review.¬† I would give this one a very tepid recommendation, and really only in a home video environment.¬† I got to see it for free because of¬† promotion that came with the new Blu-ray of Predator, so I feel as though it was worth the trip.¬† But if I was seeing this at a Drafthouse and paid $10 a ticket for me and the wife along with $25 in food, I may have had a meltdown.¬† Bottom line- level set your expectations and it will be enjoyable.

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