{"id":3661,"date":"2010-07-06T13:14:44","date_gmt":"2010-07-06T19:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=3661"},"modified":"2010-07-06T13:14:44","modified_gmt":"2010-07-06T19:14:44","slug":"movie-review-knight-and-day-tongue-in-cheek-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3661","title":{"rendered":"Movie review: Knight and Day: Tongue-in-Cheek Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY SANDRA OLMSTEAD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Knight and Day<\/em>, directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma<\/em>), has a number of good qualities to recommend it, but an important message and studied character development are not among the film\u2019s attributes.\u00a0 However, the film has its charms.<\/p>\n

One of those charms is that the film has an air of knowing it is all just supposed to be fun, an air in which self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek humor pervades the death-defying, suspenseful action sequences with a style that shouts \u201cno matter how bad it gets, everything will turn out all right.\u201d\u00a0 In some ways, this attitude of \u201cthings will work out and we, the actors, the audience, the writer, the director, et al<\/em>., know it\u201d provides a parody for the romantic comedy, action adventure, and spy thriller genres in which this film dabbles.<\/p>\n

Another of the film\u2019s charms is that its stars, Tom Cruise \u00a0and Cameron Diaz , have great chemistry in the way that opposites attract.\u00a0 While Cruise projects an \u00fcber-control vibe, Diaz projects easy-going openness, and their on-screen personas complement the characters each play so well it is hard to differentiate brilliant casting from lackadaisical directing.<\/p>\n

Consequently, it works that Cruise plays Roy Miller, a super spy who can take control of any situation, kill frequently and efficiently, and make the outcome his own and that Diaz plays June Havens, a women who would love to fall in love and sees a short business trip as an opportunity for a romantic adventure.\u00a0 \u00a0June\u2019s past and present are an open book and mercifully not too stereotypical; June is an auto mechanic fixing up a vintage car as a wedding gift for the younger sister she raised after the loss of their parents.<\/p>\n

It’s June who takes the audience on a search for Roy\u2019s past and must unravel the truth of his present.\u00a0 Is Roy a good guy protecting the world or a rogue agent out for his own gain?\u00a0 Where did he learn to kill in such a carefree manner?\u00a0 Does he really like June, and is he protecting her or using her?\u00a0 Why does he keep watch over a small suburban house via his cell phone?\u00a0 Who is Roy Miller, if that really is his name, and should June trust him with her life, and, more importantly, her heart?<\/p>\n

The action sequences are exercises in improbability, done with an eye for the wow factor and humor, and Patrick O’Neill, a debut screenwriter, seems to have borrowed a page from Jackie Chan\u2019s playbook for the stunts, if not the plot.\u00a0 In fact, I am pretty sure I have seen many of these same stunts done by Jackie Chan, and this observation provides an interesting puzzle.\u00a0 If audiences can escape into Chan\u2019s style of action comedies, will they accept Cruise performing the same stunts in the same tongue-in-cheek manner?\u00a0 If audiences do have a problem with Knight and Day<\/em>, it might have to do with Chan\u2019s characters rarely killing their adversaries, while Cruise\u2019s Roy kills incessantly, racking up a big body count without any appearance of moral or ethical conflict.<\/p>\n

There is also a good cast to support the stars.\u00a0 Peter Sarsgaard (Orphan<\/em>) plays Fitzgerald, the agent working against Roy, and Viola Davis (Eat Pray Love<\/em>; August 2010 release) plays Director George, the head of a government agency intent on reining in Roy.\u00a0 Jordi Moll\u00e0 (Zenitram<\/em>) plays Antonio, an international arms dealer who also wants the super battery and its teenage creator, Simon Feck, played by Paul Dano (The Extra Man<\/em>).\u00a0 However, all of the film\u2019s characters are stock ones made more interesting by clever casting choices, good performances, and talented actors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY SANDRA OLMSTEAD Knight and Day, directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma), has a number of good qualities to recommend it, but an important message and studied character development are not among the film\u2019s attributes.\u00a0 However, the film has its charms. One of those charms is that the film has an air of knowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment-travel","category-movie-reviews","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nMovie review: Knight and Day: Tongue-in-Cheek Fun - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3661\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Movie review: Knight and Day: Tongue-in-Cheek Fun - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY SANDRA OLMSTEAD Knight and Day, directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma), has a number of good qualities to recommend it, but an important message and studied character development are not among the film\u2019s attributes.\u00a0 However, the film has its charms. 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