I wanted to like Knight and Day, I really did. I was willing to give it a bit more leeway than I normally would films of this sort and I was eager to see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in the sort of high-concept Hollywood fare that made them stars. However, after an intriguing first hour, I was dismayed to see this movie disintegrate before my eyes, undercut by a plot that betrays our trust and insults our intelligence.

Roy Miller (Cruise) is a spy who’s gone rogue in an effort to protect Simon Feck (Paul Dano), a scientist who’s created a renewable energy source that will sever our dependence on fossil fuels. Seems another spy, Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) is out to sell this new invention to a European arms dealer and he wants to eliminate everyone who knows anything about it. Unfortunately, June Havens (Diaz) is in the wrong place at the wrong time when she boards a plane in Wichita. Miller happens to be on board as well and in the blink of an eye, she witnesses the spy wipe out everyone on board – all CIA agents – and finds herself embroiled in a case of espionage that has her running for her life.

Cruise and Diaz are the best parts of the film as they display a degree of wit and chemistry that reminds us why we became fans of theirs in the first place. Cruise is in fine form here, effortlessly turning on the charm and filling the screen with his special brand of charisma. Diaz is his equal, reminding us that she’s one of the best comedienne’s of her generation and that she has the ability to share the screen with anyone. Unfortunately, they’re at the mercy of a script filled with so many improbable shootouts and escapes that it breaks even the liberal standards of probability in a Hollywood action flick. The two stars deserve better, as do we.

Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected].