Some Things Happen for a Reason

Knight and Day is what you might call a "Snuggie movie." That is to say, it's more about the marketing than the actual product. You've got your big, media-friendly stars (Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, reunited for the first time since Vanilla Sky — maybe you've seen them on TV or magazine covers lately). And you've got your cutesy title, which doesn't really have much to do with the movie other than the fact that it's easier to sell than the original title, which was Wichita. What more do you need?

Right: A compelling plot and a witty screenplay, for starters. Knight and Day is about Roy Miller and June Havens, who "meet cute" in the Wichita airport (actually, he planned it). Roy's got something to do with a battery, but is he a good guy or a bad guy? Who cares: He's Tom Cruise, so naturally, June falls for him. And they travel from Wichita to Boston to Brooklyn to an island somewhere to Austria and to Seville, Spain. Boston looks great; it's amazing that they were able to shoot some of the chase scenes on "the I-93," as June unconvincingly calls it. But that's really the only reason for a Bostonian to see the movie, if you get a thrill from seeing the city on the big screen.

Knight and Day needs more laughs (intentional ones, that is) and more of a reason to exist, other than because it all sounds so marketable. Save your money. I'm giving Knight and Day a D.