Review of ‘Night and Day’

A film like this invites us to use a terminology far removed from what should be typical of film criticism: ‘Night and Day’ is not so much a cinematographic work as the elegiac joint venture of two products -Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz- who know that next summer, probably, they will no longer be able to capitalize on their condition, so limited in time, of effective hot-summer refreshments. Both have a more or less guaranteed life beyond that condition – there is no need to insist on Cruise, and Diaz has two good weighty arguments in the recent ‘The Box’ and ‘Anna’s decision’ (both 2009)- , but James Mangold’s film – a Mangold far less inspired than in his revision of ‘The 3:10 Train’ (1957) – seems to mark the last chapter of their respective lives as blockbuster icons.

‘Night and Day’ is almost disarming in its transparent celebration of frivolity: if it had had a certain ambition, perhaps it would have been close to that ‘Charada’ (1963) / ‘Arabesco’ (1966) diptych that allowed Stanley Donen to prolong, in another key, his faith as a great Dionysian filmmaker. What remains is a not too imaginative recital of self-fueling cinema for multi-screens, in which even the notes of cultural dyslexia regarding the Sevillian Sanfermines are part of the show.

For those who want to say goodbye to their favorite soft drinks

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DATA SHEET

Address: james mangold Distribution: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace, Jordi Mollà, Viola Davis, Paul Dano Original title: Knight and day Country: USA Year: 2010 Release date: 07-15-2010 Gender: Action, Comedy Screenplay: Patrick O’Neill Duration: 109min

Synopsis: The protagonist of the film will be a woman (Cameron Diaz) who has a blind date with a man (Tom Cruise) who turns out to be a spy. That is why she is immersed in a trip around the world in order to safeguard a powerful battery that holds the key to an infinite energy source.