(I need a hero. I need a hero until the morning light. He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be smart, and he’s gotta last until the end of the night. I need a hero. I need a hero until--- Dear God, what am I doing?)
CAST: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Frank Langella, Maggie Grace.
DIRECTOR: James Mangold
WARNING: SPOILERS and disarmingly nice spies ahead…
I have a Tom Cruise story that I’d like to share. Back in my Los Angeles days when I was a very successful and extremely powerful theatre usher at a cinema in Westwood Village, celebrities would come in quite often to catch the flicks. I held their popcorn and beverage-acquiring abilities in my hands. Without my cooperation, they’d have no choice but to sit through the movies with growling stomachs and dry mouths. Now, some of these celebrities were total dicks. You know, the kind that threw money at the manager, who then flipped out and had us ushers whip up the orders and give them to him to hand-carry up to the dickhead prima donnas who had gone up to sit in the closed-off balcony area.
And then there was Tom Cruise. Back then, he was still married to Nicole Kidman. What I remember distinctly about them whenever they came to see movies at our theatre was…. Just how nice they were. Tom and Nic never threw money at the manager before going up to the cordoned-off balcony to wait for their orders. They always waited in line, just like the common folk, politely chatting with their fans. I had the occasion to serve Tom Cruise a couple times, and was struck by how down-to-earth and well, nice, he was. And I still can’t get over how he and Nic decided to wait in line every single time. Even in busy screenings. And then whenever they left, they would always smile at the staff and say “Have a good night.”
So, it’s this impression of Tom Cruise that I’ve carried with me all these years, even through the whole Scientology brouhaha that some say has damaged his rep. It’s just hard for me to reconcile that with the incredibly kind and unaffected person we repeatedly had the privilege to serve. And for the record, I’ve never found him especially compelling as an actor, but someone I know always said that the way a person treats someone whom he/she can get away with not treating well, or even acknowledging, says a great deal about him/her. And Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman always treated us very well. Unlike a certain dickhead whom I will not name who once pranced around our lobby at 9 PM with his sunglasses on (Really, dude? Really?) and smoked up a storm. When told by a staff member that it was a non-smoking building, the fucker actually smirked and dropped the lit cigarette on the carpet - and walked away. How’s that for decency? Bottom line: I’ve always thought of Tommy C. as good guy. Same for Nicki K.
Anyhow, watching Tom Cruise’s latest film, KNIGHT & DAY, what I saw in it that I haven’t seen in any of his movies lately were flashes of that nice guy that used to come to our theatre and politely wait in line for his food, just like everyone else.
He plays Roy Miller, a CIA agent that has allegedly gone rogue and is trying to sell a revolutionary battery to the highest bidder. Cameron Diaz (whom I also spotted at one of our premieres, but never had the occasion to serve popcorn to) plays June Havens, an everywoman who crosses paths with Roy on a Wichita-Boston flight. The flight is nearly empty, and Roy and June quickly bond. It’s this scene where I first glimpsed the nice-guy-Tom from years and years ago. He inserts little touches of humanity in his brief exchange with June that quickly cements the connection between them. We learn that June is racing back to Boston to attend her little sister’s (Maggie Grace) wedding, and that her Wichita trip was to try to find an auto part for a classic automobile that she’s souping up as wedding present. Roy registers this act of kindness. In fact, acts of kindness figures prominently in the plot, and it’s this thread which elevates the popcorn-theatrics of KNIGHT & DAY, while anchoring it at the same time. At any rate, the plane turns out to be full of rogue counter-agents, whom Roy ably dispatches while June is spritzing herself in the lavatory. Roy is forced to crash-land the plane in a cornfield, and both he and June are off to the races as they traverse a path leading from Boston to NYC, to the Azores, then to Austria, then back to Boston, then to Seville for a climax involving motorcycles and stampeding bulls. Yes, bulls.
So, if you want to be clinical about it, KNIGHT & DAY is basically a Hitchcockian chase film with various faction fighting over a “Macguffin” - in this case, the revolutionary battery. What’s great about KNIGHT & DAY is that it’s basically told from June’s point of view. In this regard, it’s very much like ROMANCING THE STONE or CHARADE, where an innocent woman is pulled into a world of danger and intrigue by a dashing rogue. Cameron Diaz, whom I have been in a “like-dislike” relationship for years, acquits herself well and wisely eschews - for the most part - the cloying clowning that she sometimes mistakes as endearing. Here, she is able to make June an interesting and sympathetic character without telegraphing things. It helps that June and Roy are linked by their kind natures. Roy is constantly looking out for June, even leaving omelets for her to ensure that has a good breakfast before a day of running for her life and avoiding fireballs. In one particularly appealing scene, Roy give a “Hall and Oates” pin to the young genius/geek (Paul Dano) who created the battery because he knows the kid is a fan. Little touches like that make the character likable and root-able. Indeed, when under the influence of a truth serum, June tells a villainous henchmen that she likes Roy because of all kind things he does. “It’s the little things that matter!” she barks at him.
Indeed, the little things. The small touches of whimsy and quirkiness in KNIGHT& DAY do wonders for a story that could have been just another - albeit, good - romantic spy caper. Also, the supporting cast is just as A-game as the leads: the aforementioned Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard as Roy’s rival agent, Viola Davis as a Pamela Landy-CIA-type, and Frank Langella as another agency bureaucrat. I was prepared to dislike this film, but was pleasantly surprised by how it caught me off guard. You never would have expected a popcorn summer movie to trumpet the power of being nice - and do it so well. Too bad, there wasn’t a scene wherein Roy and June politely wait in line for popcorn at a theatre, just like everyone else.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: This is a fun movie, plain and simple. Even if you go in resisting, like I did, you might feel yourself gradually being won over. That’s a rare thing these days. The last time I went in resisting a movie, I ended up disliking it more and more as it wore on. That movie was THE BOOK OF ELI - dour, pretentious, and boring. KNIGHT & DAY is the opposite - fun, relatable, and exciting. But don’t take my word for it - go to the theatre and see for yourself.
And when you go get your popcorn from the concession stand, don't forget to be nice to the staff. : )
