Courtesy of www.ncm.com
Action-comedy is indeed a tough genre to crack: too often the comedy simply undercuts the action by being too goofy (Shoot 'Em Up, Beverly Hills Cop III), while other films get too heavy with the action to make room for the comedic beats (Mr. and Mrs. Smith). So what on Earth make these folks think that adding romance to the mix would make it any easier to do (or better, for that matter)?
Perhaps it was just one too many viewings of Romancing the Stone and Grosse Pointe Blank, but in any case, Knight and Day is an action-packed romantic comedy, combining the body count of a Die Hard film with the weight and gravity of Beach Blanket Bingo. The story is about federal agent Roy Miller (Tom Cruise, Collateral), who may or may not have gone rogue in order to sell a big, secret government macguffin called the Zephyr. Rest assured, the Purpose of the Zephyr has no real effect on this story or the characters; it simply exists to get the characters in motion. Miller literally bumps into June Havens (Cameron Diaz, The Box) and before you know it, they are off getting into car chases, plane crashes and shoot outs while globe trotting around the world. Along the way June falls for Roy's charm and "I've got this" attitude and it appears that he might even be falling for her. But before they can fully act on any of their lustful urges, they have to run away from a new group of bad guys, all with worse aim than the groups of bad guys that came before them.
Knight and Day is a fun and energetic movie, but in the end it's also weightless and pretty forgettable. Roy and June have no character arcs, no growth or development at all, neither one learns to do anything and neither one changes by the end of the movie. This story has all the substance of an episode of Dancing With the Stars. Tom Cruise is great, but he's always great. This guy has been a movie star for over two decades for a reason. Cameron Diaz is fine, although she doesn't get to do much more than scream, get saved and dote over Cruise. Peter Saarsgard, Viola Davis and Paul Dano are all wasted with characters that are merely placeholders (dubious ex-partner, tough boss and reclusive scientist, respectively).
Director James Mangold is building a nice little history of movies that should have been better than they ultimately ended up being. Copland should have been a classic, but was made with so little flair and style that it ended up being merely okay. Walk The Line is nothing more than two great performances (by Juaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon) surrounded by a decent paint-by-number biopic. 3:10 To Yuma had all the makings of a bad ass western, but instead it is a middle of the road movie with a baffling ending. So it's no surprise that Mangold takes a movie like this, a film with potential to be something interesting, and turns it into a forgettable walk in the park, just around stroll through action film land, where step is familiar and one can see the end of the road being even getting there.
But perhaps this can't all be laid at Mangold's feet. Some very quick research shows that this screenplay went through many rewrites by at least six other writers (which does not include any reworking or rewriting done by Mangold himself). Tom Cruise only agreed to do the film provided that the original script be rewritten into a comedy spy thriller. Evidence of a screenplay going through so many hands (something of a spoiler here, for you wusses): the revelation of the "meaning" of the title, Roy Miller's real name being Knight, is pretty insignificant, as is the whole Day thing, which amounts to nothing in no way, shape or form. No characters go through any "night and day" style transitions, because as stated earlier, none of the characters ever change (barely-a-spoiler spoiler over). This probably all linked to a bigger back story that obviously got excised in later rewrites; a writer takes the screenplay, keeps what he likes, dumps the rest and does his thing. The next writer does the same thing. And so on.
So just know what you're getting into. A light and fluffy movie in which the charming leads murder their way to romantic bliss, mostly in self defense. There's a lot of CGI, some of it very smart and well done, some of it over the top obvious, but who cares. No one cared when they made this thing. So why should we?
The Trailer Rundown
The Adjustment Bureau - this one is based on a Philip K. Dick short story, and many fine films have been based on Philip K. Dick stories (Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Blade Runner). Sadly, horrible movies have also been based on his stories (Next, Paycheck). This one looks interesting, a romantic sci-fi film in which people are literally kept on track with their pre-ordained life path by a shadowy group of men in old-timey black suits. Matt Damon plays a guy who dares to veer off his path. Heavy handed allegory ensues. So far I'm interested.
The American - George Clooney plays a hit man on assignment in Italy. He encounters women, trouble and good old fashioned dramatic thrills. This one is directed by Dutch music video director Anton Corbijn, who recently made his first film in the form of Control, a film about the suicidal singer of Joy Division. The trailer makes the movie look pretty good, like a good old adult thriller, and it kind of has an independent, foreign film feel, except with Clooney in the lead. I'm sold.
Inception - this is the third different trailer I've seen for this film and I'm just ready to see it already. This one has multiple scenes shot with IMAX cameras and 70 mm film, so be sure to check it out at the only real IMAX screen in Central Florida over at Pointe Orlando in the touristy part of town. Don't get ripped off by those fake digital IMAX projectors in the retro-fitted theaters.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - I heard that this movie doesn't deal with Michael Douglas' character all that much and focuses mainly on Shia LeBeouf's, but the trailer makes it seem otherwise. Josh Brolin has so much fun with Oliver Stone making W. that he comes back for more. And Oliver Stone saw something in the screenplay that he thought it was a good time to cash in on his first sequel. So how far away are we from Platoon: The Revenge of Sgt. Elias? Or Any Given Sunday: Monday Night Armageddon? JFK Meets Abbott & Costello? Do kids know who Abbott & Costello were?
Rio - this trailer baffled me. It's for a new animated film about birds at Carnivale in Brazil. It is from the makers of Ice Age. Why did it play in front of this PG-13 action comedy? Where's the cross over audience? Anyway, its looks meh. Instead of the Ice Age trailers that focused on the cute squirrel getting his nut, this one focuses on a bird that can't fly. So far...no interest.
The Social Network - this is just a teaser trailer, completely devoid of footage, and containing only sound bites from the film. Hey, it worked for Batman, right? This is a movie about the douche that invented Facebook and became a millionaire, and I wouldn't give a toss if it wasn't from the fella who wrote A Few Good Men and Sports Night and that dude who directed Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This teaser also gives off a very ominous tone, so maybe this will end up being an awesome movie.
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