Knight & Day - Not as bad as you’ve probably heard

Okay, so ‘Knight and Day’ had some pretty big expectations on its shoulders – basically, anything carrying such star power as Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz is going to be a massive hit, right?  After all, look how well ‘The Tourist’ turned out for Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie!

Yes, Tom and Cameron are great actors who can both carry a movie.  Yes, they do have chemistry.  And, yes, they’re always going to attract the public.  But will the overall package attract enough of the public to make the film the serious money it needs?  The answer is: sort of.

Possibly the first problem the film runs into is that it’s hardly a new premise.  Jason Bourne has been doing those ‘innocent-spy-on-the-run’ movies for years, so the fat that Tom Cruise is a super-secret agent who’s wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit is nothing new.  Plus, wasn’t that the plot for at least two Mission Impossible films?!

Then you have the fact that the film doesn’t really know what it wants to be.  Tom Cruise provides the action, whereas as Cameron Diaz is more suited for quirky romantic-comedy movies.  Therefore you’re left with a weird blend between the two.

It’s an odd sort of film that doesn’t really know what it wants to be.  I found I sometimes didn’t know whether I was supposed to be laughing or getting pumped up at the amazing set-piece car chases and punch-ups.

However, it did make money.  As I’ve said before… both leads have legions of fans.  It is nice to see the two of them together and it’s their chemistry which does save the production.  It’s certainly no classic and if you’re into your serious spy movies then this one isn’t for you.  However, if you like one or both leading actors then you should wring enough charm out of the story to keep you happy for a couple of hours.  It’s one of those films where renting or streaming is certainly more rewarding that paying full price for the experience on Blu-ray!

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that