June is on her way to her sister’s wedding when she bumps into a handsome man resembling Tom Cruise at the airport. By a stroke of luck, they find themselves seated next to each other on the same plane. However, the budding romance takes a nosedive when the stranger starts offing passengers one by one. His popularity further plummets when he confesses to being a secret agent on the run – a revelation made against the backdrop of a plane wreckage ablaze in the middle of a cornfield.
A Director’s Genre-Hopping Adventure
James Mangold, a director with considerable talent, could have easily adorned his mantelpiece with a couple of Oscars had he stuck to one genre and honed his craft within it. But no, the director relentlessly explores new territories, straying further and further from the promise he showed with films like “Girl, Interrupted” (1999) and “Identity” (2003). Since those days of psychiatric dramas and psychological thrillers, Mangold has diversified his filmography with a musical biopic, a lackluster rom-com, and, let’s call it, a western.
Now, he tackles a romantic action-comedy. Perhaps lacking confidence in the acting prowess of the well-matched Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise, the director, who has guided his stars to Oscar glory in the past, heavily emphasizes the “action,” the constant change of scenery, and the resulting change of vehicles.
Action-Packed Romance
The heroes wreck a convoy of jeeps, a couple of compact cars, and, almost forgot, a three-hundred-seat airliner, swapping Boston’s interchanges for tropical thickets, Alpine snows for Spanish bullfights, speedboats for helicopters, helicopters for trains, and trains for that red motorcycle we’ve all seen in the promotional images. All this automotive mayhem and geographical hopping is layered onto a plot where the most enjoyable aspect is the relationship between the characters, who navigate their connection with equal charm and humor, regardless of the surroundings or the horsepower involved. The screenwriters themselves hint at the secondary nature of the spy intrigue, jokingly making CIA agents chase after the first perpetual motion machine, culminating in an almost cartoonish scene involving truth serum torture.
Behind the Scenes
- The film was shot in Boston, Los Angeles, Salzburg (Austria), Seville (Spain), and Port Antonio (Jamaica).
- Cruise chose “Knight and Day” over “Salt” and “The Tourist” because he felt they were too similar to “Mission: Impossible.” He was drawn to the “comedy elements” in “Knight and Day.”
- Eva Mendes and Chris Tucker were originally slated to play the lead roles.
Cruise’s Self-Aware Performance
Indeed, haven’t we seen Cruise play the good guy who’s been framed before? Or can we believe that his character could actually be dishonest or, even worse, mortal? Cruise, who proved to the world with his Les Grossman role two years prior that he’s capable of more than just jumping on couches, is excellent here precisely because of the subtle parody of his character. When his Knight (the character’s last name) runs across rooftops and lectures his clumsy companion, it becomes clear that he and, say, Ethan Hunt exist in completely different realities. However, the former is well aware of the latter’s existence and probably considers him a bore.