Knight and Day

Starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

BEST. MOVIE. OF THE SUMMER!!!

Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, I can move on with a rational review. :)

Part of the reason I only saw 2 movies in June is that a whole spate of movies came out that I was mediocre about. This was one of them. When I finally saw a useful preview a few weeks before it came out, it looked a lot more interesting than before, but I was still under the impression it was just another spy movie like Killers, which was admittedly amusing, but still not the most wonderful movie on the planet. So I thought about going to see this movie every day for more than a week before I finally got out of the house and went. Man was I mad I had waited!! This was such a wonderful surprise!!!!

I went into this thinking, ah, just another spy movie. NOT SO. This movie was everything I could want in a movie and more! I was swept off my feet from the very beginning and never even stopped to think until the credits rolled.

Tom Cruise is meant for these types of roles, honestly he is. He is perfect for them.

But let me ruin the praise for a moment with a bit of backstory (I'm nothing if not thorough..). I'm too young to remember Tom Cruise in his glory days. By the time I started paying attention to celebrities and watching movies, Tom Cruise was that vaguely strange but unbelievably famous guy who jumped on Oprah's couch and liked Scientology. (I know, weep for my empty youth) I didn't see Top Gun for the first time until several years after he joined the Church of Scientology and married Katie Holmes. I've still never seen Jerry Maguire, his other huge movie. I know I've seen all 3 Mission Impossibles and I really liked them, but I can barely remember them except that I liked them.

So I've spent the majority of my adult life thinking that Tom Cruise was the guy that everyone used to like but thought was kind of strange now. They whispered behind his back and he had lost all of his charm. But I am beginning to change that impression now! I am letting go of all of my perceptions (where did I get them from anyway?) and basing my opinion on the man himself. And what I see impresses me.

He was very good in Valkyrie. I never actually saw Tropic Thunder, but his small role in that movie garnered him a beloved mention in the NY Times review of the movie to the point that it was almost the only reason I wanted to see it. I discovered later that it was the character Les Grossman, who made an appearance at this year's MTV Movie Awards. He was AMAZING as that character! It's no wonder everyone was talking about it! If I hadn't known it was him, I would never, ever have guessed. And I watched an interview with Taylor Lautner (of course lol) talking about the ad he did with Les/Tom, and he said it was amazing to work with him. As soon as he put that makeup on, he was Les Grossman. He was talking all tough and being a puffed up jerk and everything. So in character. And then I was impressed even more. And his performance at the Awards! So great!! And my opinion of Tom continued to inch higher and higher.

I watched an interview with Cameron Diaz when I was trying to decide one day if it was worth going to see Knight and Day that night (I do all sorts of weird things to see if I'm in the mood for a particular movie when I'm undecided on whether or not I should go). She commented that Tom has a great eye for stunts and action in movies like Knight and Day. He would apparently always be looking around and say "We should try this!" and then come up with this crazy stunt that they would do. She laughed that people would do anything for Tom. Probably because he knows what he's talking about! SERIOUSLY. I cannot even express to you how entertained I was at this film.

As I was saying before, I adored Tom Cruise in this role. He's what, twice my age? It wasn't a schoolgirl crush, but genuine admiration. He was charming, and capable, and fit (um Taylor Lautner's not the only one who's been working out some nice abs), and wonderfully spastic and just perfect for this role. He's one of those actors that should seriously distract me, but he's so good at what he does that you don't even notice it's him. Watching the film, he was Roy Miller the spy who would do anything to protect June for some unexplained reason. And it was wonderful! I was so enthralled!

I loved his constant repetition of her name. "June, June, now June, you've got to listen to me, June.." lol She was so perfectly spastic in her own way too. Cameron Diaz was equally perfect for her role, and their chemistry was spot-on. Their perfect match was part of what made it so enjoyable to watch. She was innocent and inexperienced and terrified and he was always cool, always in control, always with something up his sleeve to save them in some spectacular way.

In fact, about halfway through I began to marvel at how brave the filmmakers were to make such a sexist film. I mean, it wasn't in a bad way--I love the idea of some big strong man constantly saving my life, because god knows I would be the crazy fritzy girly girl that would be screaming and covering my ears in those situations. But I just thought it was brave of them to make a modern movie with such a helpless heroine.

Well let's just say it didn't stay that way. The ending was perfect. I know I keep using that word, but that's how it felt. It brought perfect closure, and humor, and a happy ending, and it just brought a smile to my face. So great.

I didn't really notice the score when I was watching the movie, but as soon as I stood up from my seat I knew I wanted to own it. I wanted to return to that glorious mindset, of train-hopping across Europe, of high speed car chases and rooftop escapades. I needed that back without having to go see the movie again every day. I was soooo disappointed that it didn't come out for another week! For some reason the score was released almost 3 weeks after the movie was. Very strange. But I bought it literally the morning it came out (I kept up the screen on my computer so I wouldn't forget to buy it the moment it was released). I have listened to it pretty much exclusively since it came out almost a week ago. It's so great! If you want a taste for the flair of this movie, go to Amazon.com and listen to the previews for the songs. They're awesome.

A side note on the soundtrack: When I discovered I couldn't buy the score, I tried to think of something that reminded me of it. I immediately thought of the Mr and Mrs Smith soundtrack, which is appropriate since it is also a fun, romantic spy movie. When I went on to see if I wanted to buy it as a substitute, it just so happened to be by the same composer, John Powell! I about fell off my chair laughing when I saw that. When you listen to enough movie scores, you start to unconsciously notice similarities in a composer's work. Like the fact that I chose the one score in the universe that is almost exactly like Knight and Day, by the same composer. :) But still, Knight and Day is even better than Mr and Mrs Smith, so this soundtrack is better too. I get to watch the movie in my head all day every day, and man is that fun!

Another little aside, a sort of revelation I had the other day: I think I like movie scores for the same reason other people like audiobooks. I mean, sure I listen to Harry Potter on audiobook every time I get in the car and have been pretty much since I discovered them a year and a half ago, but I don't usually bring them into the house anymore. So when I'm doing chores or just sitting on my computer, I have to have music playing. But when I have a mix of movie scores playing, every new song that comes on is like watching that movie for 3 minutes. So I get to watch all of my favorite movies in parts every day. It's so cool! I think that's why it's so hard for me to turn back to any other kind of music. I miss getting reminded of my favorite stories every time I turn on my music, so it's hard to listen to anything else.

Anyway, long story short, this was an AMAZING movie. GO SEE IT NOW!!!! I don't know when it will leave theaters, but it came out June 26th so it's probably coming close to the end of its run. Summer is a hard time to release because there are always newer, more exciting movies coming out to push the older ones out of theaters. But in the case of Knight and Day, you will be hard pressed to find a better movie this summer! I give this 17 rainbows and ponies! Go see it now!! :-D

RATING (out of 5 rainbows and ponies): 17 rainbows and ponies!!
CONCLUSION: a perfect happy ending