Directed by James Mangold. Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Dano 12A cert, gen release, 109 mins
Cruise is back and Cameron's got him in this enjoyably retro popcorn thriller, writes TARA BRADY
LONG AGO, giant lumbering beasts roamed the earth and the studio system trembled at their might. In those days, handing a
$20 million pay cheque to Tom Cruise or Sly Stallone seemed like a sound investment.
By the turn of the century, however, all was not well. The $20 million star, now barely extant, had been punctured by outmoded tropes, wounded by audience apathy and sidetracked by lesser professions (like governor of California). As the dinosaurs fell, happier specimens did not replace them.
The mavens of Hollywood quickly banged together a new equation; why pay Julia Roberts enough swag to balance the books at Enron when Jessica Alba is younger, prettier and infinitely cheaper? Why splash out on Will Smith when a few 3D bells and whistles will get the punters in?
Bloodied but unbowed, the star has returned as part of the vogue for all things 1980s and is now willing to work for scale. After all, if Stallone can win back the punters with nostalgic renditions of Rocky and Rambo, then what’s holding back Tom Cruise?
To that end, Knight and Dayseeks to rekindle some of the old Top Gun magic. Mr Cruise plays a renegade spy who runs into car restorer (Cameron Diaz) at Wichita Airport, thereby sparking a chain reaction of intrigue and car chases. The cause of this kerfuffle is a perpetual battery. A nerdish Paul Dano invented it and everybody, including Cruise's FBI special agent arch-nemesis (Peter Sarsgaard) wants it.
Like the recent Killers(albeit far less excruciating to watch), Knight and Dayis willing to tear around the Alps and half of Europe to approximate such old school beats as The Truth About Charlie.And sure enough, there are more than enough nuts and bolts here to knock out a storming thriller.
James Mangold, an actor's director who has presided over Oscar wins for Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)and Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted), rather cleverly marries Classic Cruise to the new uneasiness engendered by that appearance on Oprah. "Is this the good guy or a crazy man?" the film seems to ask whenever Diaz isn't making similar enquiries on screen.
The result is perfectly good fun – but one that has, thus far, failed to make a showing at the US box- office. Maybe it’s bad timing. Or maybe, just maybe, the star is finally dead. Long live bells and whistles.
