MOVIE
REVIEWS
Knight and Day
By John Mulderig
Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Adults in search
of escapist summer fare will likely be pleased with the good-natured action-and-romance
combo Knight and Day (Fox). But intermittent stylized violence and a smattering
of crude and profane dialogue preclude endorsement for adolescents or
younger viewers.
As the female half of the blockbuster
couple at the heart of this genre-splicing story, Cameron Diaz plays everyday
woman June Havens. Though June is slightly ditzy -- in the time-honuored
Goldie Hawn manner -- the opening scene, set in an airport through which
she drags a suitcase laden with auto parts, establishes June's knowledge
of mechanics in general and classic cars in particular.
Those skills will come in handy after her seemingly random run-in with highly skilled CIA agent Roy Miller (Tom Cruise), an initially flirtatious encounter that leads June into a bizarre, barely plausible adventure.
Roy, it develops, is on the run from his former colleagues -- led by Director
George (Viola Davis) and Agent Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) -- after absconding
with a new, potentially revolutionary energy source (i.e., a self-sustaining
battery) and stashing its young, geeky inventor Simon Feck (Paul Dano)
in a remote hideaway.
As Roy battles his erstwhile allies, as well as evil Spanish arms dealer Antonio Quintana (Jordi Molla), who eventually gets thrown into the mix, the bewildered June is left dodging bullets and trying to figure out whether Roy -- for whom she rapidly, inevitably falls -- is rogue or hero. (Though, really, Cruise's sly smile, undimmed since his Risky Business days, should leave her in as little doubt as it does the audience.)
Director and co-writer (with Patrick O'Neill) James Mangold's breezy diversion,
meanwhile, ping-pongs from one romantic setting to the next -- Salzburg
today, Seville tomorrow -- showcasing car and motorcycle chases and taking
a steady, but largely bloodless, toll on the extras along the way.
A back story concerning Roy's roots deals touchingly with themes of family
love and patriotic sacrifice, and the adroitly portrayed, chemistry-rich
central relationship progresses, for the most part, innocently enough.
The closest the script comes to anything edgy between the two leads is
a recurring joke about an incident in which Roy drugs June to keep her
from panicking, then changes her (off-screen) out of her clothes and into
a bikini -- Roy's Caribbean hideout is one of the aforementioned idyllic
backdrops -- while she sleeps.
June's appropriately annoyed reaction to this invasion of her privacy
only succeeds in drawing another of those trademark grins.
The film contains frequent, though mostly non-graphic, action violence,
at least one use of profanity and of the F-word, some crude language and
a few instances of sexual humour. The Catholic News Service classification
is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is
PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate
for children under 13.
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Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic News Service. More reviews are
available online at www.usccb.org/movies.
Grown Ups
By Kurt Jensen
Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Grown Ups (Columbia) answers this unsettling question:
What happens when you combine a "mature" Adam Sandler comedy
with elements of The Big Chill and On Golden Pond?
You get buttoned-down raunch and a truckload of sap.
Grown Ups offers a meandering plot featuring eight former cast members
of Saturday Night Live; four crotch hits and about as many flatulence
jokes; a strange running gag about a four-year-old boy who still breastfeeds;
a peek at David Spade's bare backside; and expertly staged physical comedy
which relieves some of the stalest dialogue ever to blight a movie script.
Sandler, who co-wrote with Fred Wolf, and director Dennis Dugan start
out to tell the tale of five friends, all once members of a private-school
basketball team that won a title in 1978, reuniting after their coach
dies. Their Fourth of July weekend at a New England lake cabin provides
some nice lessons about the positive effects of real-life activities and
human interaction on their video-game-sated children, but is mostly a
showcase for the various comic styles of the principals.
Sandler plays Hollywood agent Lenny Fedler, married to fashion designer
Roxanne (Salma Hayek Pinault); Kevin James is Eric Lamonsoff, who brags
of his prosperous life but isn't what he appears to be; Chris Rock is
Kurt McKenzie, a subdued househusband to hard-charging spouse Deanne (Maya
Rudolph); Spade is perpetually partying bachelor Marcus Higgins; and Rob
Schneider is Rob Hilliard, a bewigged holistic healer paired with his
third wife, the much older but enduringly lusty Gloria (Joyce Van Patten).
The bulk of the film consists of casual banter and insults among the men,
much of it seemingly improvised and consisting of quick riffs on Schneider's
eternally odd appearance and sex life, and his unusually attractive older
daughters. The women -- with the exception of Gloria, who gets to deliver
the big "lesson" about the stages of life -- might as well be
cardboard cutouts.
All the characters try, in their own clumsy ways, to be the best people
they can be, the children all turn out much improved for their rustic
escapades, and there aren't enough objectionable elements to make this
unacceptable for mature adolescents. But most teens are unlikely to want
to see this weak entry, anyway. The prime audience would appear to be
devoted fans of Sandler, determined to remain au courant with his entire
... uh ... oeuvre.
The film contains some mild sexual and scatological humour, brief rear
nudity, fleeting crude and crass language and a few instances of innuendo.
The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion
Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned.
Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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Jensen is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service. More reviews
are available online at www.usccb.com/movies.
Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops
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