Stars, action, romance…and some pretty solid laughs.
One of the last true movie stars whose persona alone can open a film has returned to the screen as Tom Cruise stars in Doug Liman’s American Made. The film is a comedic look at the true story of Barry Seal, an airline pilot who found himself recruited by both the CIA and Pablo Escobar for his services in transporting the likes of cocaine and guns, among other…items.
Cruise doesn’t often get the chance to exercise his comedic muscles, but when he does, the actor shows a timing and a delivery that makes one wish he’d let himself indulge in the genre more often than he does. One time in which the actor did let himself do so was the 2010 action/comedy Knight and Day, which resulted in possibly one of the most hilarious turns of Cruise’s career, while at the same time taking good advantage of his skills as an action/adventure star.
In Knight and Day, Cruise stars as Roy Miller, a disgraced spy who finds himself on the run after discovering that his former organization wants him dead. Along the way, Roy encounters the beautiful June Havens (Cameron Diaz), a car restorer who finds herself continuously crossing paths with the spy to the point that he has no choice but to bring her with him. The pair proceed to embark on an international adventure as Roy and June do everything they can to stay alive, even if it means falling in love.
In so many ways, Knight and Day proves the perfect throwback for the 21st century. The film offers up the kind of sexy playfulness mixed with romance that Rock Hudson, Cary Grant and Gregory Peck shared with Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren back in the day in spades. Here, the scene in which June wakes up and finds herself on Roy’s private island as Roy comes in from the water just oozes sexiness. Watching as June semi-sternly quizzes Roy about exactly how she got into the bikini she’s wearing is matched by the romantic playfulness in the banter the two share from their respective terraces in a luxurious European hotel. At the same time, the many action sequences in Knight and Day all prove to be well-choreographed and properly adrenaline-fueled to accommodate modern audience tastes. In particular, the moment in which Roy crashes June’s kidnapping by dropping onto the windshield of the car taking her away and the motorcycle chase accompanied by the running of the bulls in Spain with both characters working in sync to take down the heavies, are pure fun. Among the many qualities throughout Knight and Day, is the film’s skilled knack for flow and balancing of tone, which continuously serves the movie well as it carries it and the audience along for a fun, well-made ride.
There is a decent amount of mystery regarding Roy’s predicament, which is amplified by much of the movie’s action as well. Yet it’s the comedy that proves to be the real star of Knight and Day with the film offering up a multitude of laughs in between the gunfire and punch-throwing. In fact, Knight and Day is a study in how to effectively make any action moment hilarious. The sequence in the airplane with June and Roy flirting as the latter notices how curiously sparse the plane is in terms of people, becomes side-splitting when the former goes into the restroom. The rest of the scene shows Roy taking out all the passengers (assassins sent to kill him) as June checks her hair and breath before coming out to Roy holding two drinks by their seats. Just as hilarious is the scene in the warehouse where Roy and June, both holding guns and dodging bullets as they hide from a team of bad guys plot their escape. As Roy looks at a nervous June and states: “On the count of three. One…,” she runs out, prompting more gunfire, causing her to scurry back to where Roy is hiding. “Sorry, I panicked,” she says. “What number would you like,” Roy asks as he tries to hold onto his patience. Yet the film doesn’t need action in order to garner laughs, and manages a handful of them without the use of explosives; the most memorable being the way Roy has to apologetically drug June every time they change locations for her own safety, despite her tired and desperate pleading for him not to; an on-going joke which never stops being funny.
Knight and Day is as star-driven a movie as can be, with so much of it tailored to fit its popular, beloved leads. However, what such specific tailoring does here, is bring out the best the two stars have to offer. Cruise has always been underrated when it comes to his comedic gifts and the film knows this, allowing him to be both the debonair movie star and a comedic goofball here. The best example of this is in the scene early on when he kidnaps June from a diner at gunpoint stating to the shocked crowd: “Nobody call the cops; or I kill myself and then her,” with the utmost seriousness. Although she’s called upon to act hapless (but never helpless) and confused for much of her role, Diaz brings sheer joy and likeability to June, making her reactions to the predicament she’s in, purely insitnctual as the movie progresses. The role greatly plays on Diaz’s winning ability for both verbal and physical comedy that once again serves as proof that she is this century’s Carole Lombard.
Despite the presence and popularity of its two stars, as well as its many other qualities, Knight and Day failed to make the kind of money it was expected to in the summer of 2010. While the film performed solidly overseas where Cruise’s star power is just as potent now as it ever was, Knight and Day was deemed out of place in a summer which included the likes of Harry Potter, Twilight and the first Despicable Me entry. Critics meanwhile were mixed as many struggled to fully embrace the film, resulting in somewhat lackluster reviews.
Because he’s Tom Cruise, every movie he makes is carefully scrutinized, as is its performance at the box office, with Knight and Day quickly being labeled a bomb on that scale. One of the reasons for its failing can be attributed to the small, but noticeable diminishing of the movie star vehicle on behalf of franchise-happy audiences. Another possible reason is the fact that, with the lone exception of Jerry Maguire, the actor’s starring comedic efforts have never been too enthusiastically received by audiences who will forever consider the actor to be one of the top action movie stars of all time. Even if it won’t be remembered as a Tom Cruise classic in years to come, there’s no denying that Knight and Day represents a kind of summer fun and escape (action, romance, comedy and stars) the movies provided so well once upon a time, but is sadly harder and harder to find these days.
