Thoughts on "Knight and Day"

• "Knight and Day" is at its best when reveling in its loopy, purposefully unbelievable, action sequences. In a summer when even whimsical characters like "Robin Hood" take themselves seriously, it is nice to see a fun action movie.
  
• Part of what makes the movie so fun is Tom Cruise's performance as Roy Miller, a rogue spy with a few mental problems. The unpredictable, zany nature of the character allows Cruise to have fun with his performance, instead of drenching it with his usually overbearing theatrics (see "A Few Good Men" among others).
• Unfortunately, Cameron Diaz, who plays June a woman who gets tangled up in Roy's plan, is not given much to work with. Diaz survives by playing ditsy for the film's first hour, but by that point, one realizes that her character is not all that interesting. And when Cruise's character disappears for a good twenty minutes, the film definitely loses its momentum.
  
• Also wasted are Viola Davis, Paul Dano, and Peter Sarsgaard. If director James Mangold was going to assemble such great talent, he should have given them better material.
• Clunky dialogue ruins all of the film's attempts at drama or romance. Again, the film works best during its kooky action set pieces.
  
• While the film has a great creative premise, it unfortunately falls into cliched territory by the film's last act. One wishes screenwriter Patrick O'Neill would have re-written the film's weak ending.
  
• A mixed bag.
• C+