Viewed in
2011
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Cameron Diaz stars as a gearhead gal who accidentally gets taken for a ride with a rogue super spy, played by Tom Cruise.
Liked
Charming first half.
Disliked
Autopilot second half.
Thoughts
Watching the trailers, I thought this movie had two possibilities: really fun or really dumb. Turns out it was somewhere in between.I really enjoyed the first hour. Cruise was funny playing with the baggage of the public thinking he's gone a bit loopy with his antics. He was effortlessly charming, unstable, and dangerous simultaneously. Diaz was an excellent foil, and their chemistry was engaging. It was quite a hoot to hang out with them amongst the strings of explosions and silly situations.
Then the second half came along and the comedy lost its steam and the movie morphed into a bland action-flick. Everyone got dumber, the sequences got more ludicrous, and the moments got predictable. I like Paul Dano, but his character was more useful as a MacGuffin than as their third wheel.
The action scenes well done, but only a couple were really outstanding. The car chase with Cruise hanging onto Diaz's car was very amusing. I also liked the creative vehicle chase through Pamplona's running of the bulls, with pretty convincing CGI horned bovines.
While it wasn't as much of a romp as I had hoped for, it was still pretty fun, especially the first half. The second half didn't suck, but was still a let down.
What I would change
Shortened the second half by 30 minutes.
