Knight and Day (2010)

This just in...

"Box office receipts in 2009 were highest ever, thanks to continuing growth of 3D and success of Avatar"

Hmm, interesting. Further more...

"In terms of this year all the evidence shows that 2010 could be just as good as 2009, despite a miserable June when the World Cup meant there was nothing on so nobody went to the cinema; or nothing good was put on because it was thought nobody would go".

Like Freeman or Hemingway before him, I agree with the second part.

Low attendance records? 45% down on this time last year. Sure we can blame the World Cup, but that's not at the heart of the problem. The sheer mediocracy of this year's film crop is the problem. So with this (securely) in mind, Knight and Day does a fine job of providing fabulous Friday night escapism. It's a cop-out I know, but Jesus it could be a lot worse. Like a tin of Ronseal, Mangold, very much himself on cruise control, (he hasn't been challenged since '97's Copland) has achieved optimum Tin status here.

So is it really a question of managing expectations? Absolutely. Ultra Culture is a perfect example, slamming the movie (justifiably tbh) some five months before it's even premiered in Sevilla. But Jeremy Kay's recent article in The Guardian has covered the topic of advanced film criticism sufficiently. So why the hostility? Because of hype or promos? Despite couch bouncing abilities or religious/commercial beliefs Cruise, at 48, continues to carry the flag for the new A-List action wannabes that are still not quite there yet (Gyllenhaal, Brody et al). Sure Priya Elen's got a point, his last two films did bomb (as has K&D) but one was a drama directed by Redford and in the other he was wearing an eye patch. This is Cruise back in familiar territory, saving the day, getting the girl and grinning uncontrollably whilst doing it. Hey, at least he doesn't sing (see 2:11).

Diaz however, well, she's awful in this, but to be fair she has little to work with? Even Dame Mirren would struggle with these external monologues, but then again her agent would have filtered out this option long ago.

Running time is always a factor, this came in at 109 minutes which is well below standard for fluff these days. This year so far, Eclipse (2010), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Kick-Ass (2010) and Iron Man 2 (2010) especially, all reasonable films but films that would have benefitted greatly from further cutting room floor usage. Having a bad friday? Need to switch off? This year, you could do a lot worse.

Knight and Day opens 6th August.