Knight and Day

June (Diaz) has met a guy. Perfect hair, perfect smile, and, it transpires, perfect aim. It seems that Roy (Cruise) is some sort of secret agent, on a mission to protect a powerful new piece of technology from getting into the hands of enemies cropping up pretty much everywhere. For a girl who was previously unlucky in love (Cameron Diaz, really?), this relationship seems to be moving pretty fast, as June is caught up in the action and finds herself embroiled in high speed chases, dodging bullets and jetting around the world. She still isn’t quite sure whether Roy’s interest in her is just a front for something else, but as the film goes on, June begins to bring plenty of her own unexpected twists to their blossoming relationship.

There are plenty of shifting allegiances and unpredictable disclosures in the plot, with the storyline itself keeping the audience on their toes just as much as the spectacular action sequences. The first fight is onboard a plane, followed by a private island being blown up, while the highlight of the film consists of a motorbike chase through a Spanish bullfight.

The actors are in familiar territory here and appear to be thoroughly enjoying themselves in a film where they know exactly what is required of them. Tom Cruise reprises his Mission Impossible action man swagger, while Diaz has gone back to performing her ditzy-but-sexy shtick. These are hardly the most challenging of roles, but they allow for nice on screen chemistry between the two stars. Guiding us through the crazy plot is the capable direction of James Mangold, whose track record (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Girl, Interrupted) should be enough to assure you that this won’t just be another mindless action blockbuster, but a film with wit, style, excitement and a few surprises up its sleeve.

Shoshana Eilon