Knight and day movie review

Knight and Day

Movie review by zulfi

3.5/5

            In his movie review of ‘silence of the lambs’, Roger Ebert narrated an incident which happened in the real life of Anthony Hopkins. A lady (if I remember correctly a waitress) asked him if he was the one who played Hannibal Lecter and she hoped her husband was more like him. The main attractive element which she noticed in him was that he listened to the inner workings of the principal character in the movie and sympathized with her. Women desire hearing and encouragement from men even if they bungled something. Roy Miller of ‘Knight and Day’ possesses these qualities and probably that’s what makes him look superb.

            He is an eagle scout and he is an obsessive do-gooder. He sticks with a lone weakling against which the whole bad world is against. He is a trained agent of some agency and is of the highest order. But the main trait which makes the viewers get attracted to him is the way he helps people, handles women, with excessive care and always with a smile and a word of encouragement. When June, on her way to her sister’s wedding, finds herself as a co-passenger in an airplane with Roy Miller, she sees in him a charming gentleman. She develops a small crush on him and wants to flirt, but there is a lot amiss here for her. She doesn’t know that the vehicle is airborne with professional assassins grinding their knives for the skin of Roy. She takes a few minute bathroom break and returns to slowly notice that the whole romantic thing she is involved is happening amidst a disaster crisis. She survives it coming to terms with a sliver of Roy’s personality. But when she wakes back and ignores the warning signs of Roy, she again gets entangled in far more nefarious circumstances with some shady security agencies. She is driven to cross-city chases with a horde of ‘men in black tuxedos’ and strangely Roy, who wants to rescue her with an obsession tantamount to saving his own life. Amidst all this mayhem of her personal life, she finds the Roy character strange. He convinces her against her own self and drugs her repeatedly without her knowing, carrying her from country to country reminding her in flashes that everything will be okay.

            The thing here notable is the trust she develops on a man, who has stacks of odds against him to be a fair player. He is against the government. He has crashlanded a plane, shoots her ex-boyfriend, abducts her repeatedly, but again she develops a subconscious confidence in him. Why does she do that? Is it his best shooting skills, athletic abilities, driving acumen, dodging out of any corner he is trapped in? I think it is his endearing words of encouragement when the bullets are flying over their heads or when he is hanging upside down and murmuring small promises that he will handle it. He later shows his support to the young whiz, whom the whole world considers as profit, while Roy fights for the boy’s survival. I may be deviating readers from the main story of battery and tug of war over it between federal agents and Spanish mafia, but the spirit lies in the chemistry between Roy and June. She agrees to go with the flow (which is with him) and confronts bitter incidents, which spurn trust in him, but just when she ‘gives’ him back to the authorities, she encounters the pang of hitting the axe on her toe. His past opens her eyes and she falls for him completely. A romantic scenario probably well accustomed by movie-goers with rote in many such movies, but it’s different here.

            Tom Cruise doesn’t look overboard handsome. Girls may chase me with pickaxes on hearing this. But to each, his own. He is certainly smart and looks cute. But, while in a movie, he is lost in his own character. In ‘Knight and Day’, he looks endearing as Roy Miller. He makes the rightful half of the movie’s spirit. It’s hard not to be impressed by him. He compliments June in the midst of a car chase on her driving skills, while lying on the top of the automobile. He shoots accurately in the flesh of June’s ex and consoles him within a jiffy as though the injured should be indebted to him. He welcomes the heroine into the cockpit of a falling plane as though he is inviting her to a party. All these instances are hilarious and they bank on the ease of Roy and bewilderment of June. Cameron Diaz is the best. There’s no other word for it. She plays the perfect spoil for Cruise. Her comic timing is sensational. The way she carries herself and dialogue are something which many can’t better. In the romantic moods, she is a natural.

            James Mangold has been my personal favorite. I liked ‘3 10 to Yuma’, which is undoubtedly one of the best westerns ever. He has a way in adapting with the varying spirit of each picture. ‘Knight and Day’ is a great rom-com. As already stated the humor comes from the diametric opposite characters of Cruise and Diaz. But, setting up of many interesting scenes helps. Most notable is the airborne episode. When Roy says the pilots are dead and June accepts as though it’s a joke, the former breathes a relaxed sigh as though she has taken the news well. The film surely flutters a little at the end with urgent need for action scenes and no time for the hero and heroine to make up. But the director makes up well with his action set pieces. Mangold is a master at handling action sequences. And they are diverse. He infuses bull fighting with a road chase. He leaves two master assassins in a space constricted train compartment to settle it between them. He crashes a plane amidst a field, while it flies over a long truck. And there are many others. And they are all good if not better, as is the movie.