Knight and Day
starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Mollà, Viola Davis, Paul Dano and Dale Dye
written by Patrick O’Neill
directed by James Mangold
Rating: ♦♦♦♦◊
June Havens (Cameron Diaz) is a car renovation and customizing garage owner from Boston who accidentally gets involved with secret agent Roy Miller (Tom Cruise). All hell breaks loose as Miller finds himself the target of his own secret agency and doesn’t know who to trust as he tries to protect the asset he is guarding from the real bad guys. June is innocently trying to get home for her sister’s wedding when she gets swept up in international intrigue. It’s the same old spy plot - whose is the double agent? Who can we trust? Well, kill everyone just to be safe. It’s more comedy action than thriller action, and the comedy is deliberate. To begin with, Royis the politest professional killer imaginable. I almost wanted to yell at the TV to tell him to stop apologizing and being so polite, but it made me laugh, too. The ridiculous contrast of his smile, polite speech and calm manner amid the mayhem all around is funny. Roy is always neat and handsome. Imagine Bruce Willis coming out of Die Hard without a scratch or a smudge.
It’s like a mix of Mission Impossible, Die Hard, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Enemy of the State. You’ll enjoy it.
Dale Dye makes another appearance, this time as the real-life father of Roy Miller. You’ve seen Dye’s face in several movies even if you don’t know his name. I am always interested in him. He is a retired U.S. Marine officer and Vietnam War veteran who began in movies as an on set military adviser. Then Oliver Stone gave him a small part as a marine Captain in Platoon. He has a comparably modest role as an onscreen officer on General Marshall’s Washington, D.C.staff in Saving Private Ryan. He’s not a trained actor and he’s not a star, but he curiously pops up here and there. I like it when I spot him, like a hobby.