After many self-inflicted wounds, Tom Cruise attempts to rehabilitate his career with the action-comedy Knight and Day. June Havens (Cameron Diaz) flies to Wichita to pick up some parts she needs to restore an old car. As she returns home to Boston, she literally bumps into Roy Miller (Cruise) and some flirtatious sparks ignite.

Unbeknownst to June, it turns out that Roy is a rogue government spy targeted for termination. He takes down the folks out to get him – including the pilots – and then lands the jet in the middle of a cornfield.

After this bizarre episode, June returns home for her sister’s wedding, but Roy continues to interfere with her life. Roy attempts to safeguard a super-powerful battery and its inventor (Paul Dano). Along with way, June continually gets caught up in the adventures.

Knight reminds me why I shouldn’t trust trailers. The movie’s previews made it look like a cross between a screwball comedy and a Bond flick. Knight does boast those aspirations, but it falls far short of its goals both as a comedy and as an action film.

In many of my reviews, I find fault with the script and general filmmaking but praise the actors. This will not be the case for Knight. While I find both Diaz and Cruise to be appealing performers, they lack even the slightest hint of chemistry together. The flick needs for them to light up the screen together ala Brad and Angie in 2005’s Mr. And Mrs. Smith, but instead, they fail to present any form of compelling interactions. The movie depends on their star power to succeed, so the absence of chemistry becomes a major problem.

It doesn’t help that June becomes arguably the most shrill and annoying “heroine” since Willie Scott from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. For much of the film, Diaz simply shrieks and does her best imitation of a stereotypical incompetent girlie girl. At least in Willie’s case this made sense, as she was a pampered gold digger. June is supposed to be a tough Boston chick with a tomboy background, so her general silliness seems more grating.

The movie also forces June to be willfully stupid much of the time. When I saw Knight theatrically, this big bonehead sat near me. He ate a sandwich loudly and laughed at almost anything that happened. This guy defines the phrase “easily entertained”; he would be amused by a brick and a piece of chewing gum.

Eventually, even this dope had had enough! I don’t remember the specific scene, but at some point, June’s idiocy went too far and Sandwich Dude sighed in disgust.

And I was right there with him. Granted, I’ll forgive many lapses in logic if the product entertains me, but Knight does little to satisfy in that regard. Best known for dramas like Walk the Line and Cop Land, director James Mangold seems like an odd choice for this kind of action-comedy, and he shows little talent for either side of that dual genre. The jokes flop, and the set pieces lack much to make them thrilling. We see some good stunts and effects, but there’s no punch to these sequences; they feel like they should be exciting, but they’re not.

That sentiment covers my whole time with Knight and Day. The movie certainly boasts all the right components to become a fun ride, but nothing ever connects. From top to bottom, it’s a dull flick.

Knight and Day appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Though not stellar, the transfer was generally satisfying.

My only minor complaints connected to sharpness, as a few shots displayed minor softness. I got the impression this connected to the original photography, though, as I suspect the filmmakers used slightly loose focus to make the stars look better. In any case, most of the movie enjoyed good clarity and delineation. No issues with jaggies or moiré effects appeared, and I witness no edge haloes. Source flaws also remained absent.

Like most modern action movies, Day went with a fairly stylized palette. It usually favored a chilly teal, but it occasionally became a bit warmer. Within those parameters, colors looked fine; they exhibited appropriate vivacity. Blacks were deep and tight, and I thought shadows showed nice definition. The softness kept the image from “A”-level, but it was more than satisfying.

Similar thoughts greeted the good DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Day. I felt the soundscape delivered an involving experience, but it wasn’t quite as impressive as expected. To be sure, the many action scenes offered a good sense of impact; they simply weren’t quite as dynamic or engulfing as I anticipated. With so many of these pieces, I thought they’d give us more of a punch. While they did use the five channels well, I simply felt they should’ve boasted a little more vivacity and sense of place.

Still, that was a relative complaint, so don’t interpret it to mean that the audio truly disappoints. The film packed plenty of action elements; we got many instances of gunfire, explosions, car chases and other lively tidbits. Overall, the mix filled out the room in a satisfying – though not optimal – manner.

Audio quality was positive. Speech came across as a little brittle at times, but the lines were usually natural and concise. Music showed good range, and effects offered a nice sense of impact. These were the kind of loud, impressive elements one would anticipate, as they showed solid clarity. This was a positive soundtrack; it just wasn’t one I’d call great.

A handful of minor extras fill out the set. We start with Wilder Knights and Crazier Days. It goes for 12 minutes, 30 seconds and includes comments from stunt coordinator Greg Smrz, producer Cathy Konrad, director James Mangold, cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, special effects coordinator Michael Meinardus, and actors Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise, and Peter Sarsgaard. “Wilder” looks at stunts and effects.

While we do get some decent notes about staging the various action scenes, the program probably should be titled “Tom and Cameron Are Awesome!!!” That’s the message it delivers: the stars love to do their own stunts and get down and dirty. Enough useful material appears to make the show tolerable, but it does get awfully fluffy.

Another featurette called Boston Days and Spanish Knights lasts eight minutes, 10 seconds and offers material from Diaz, Cruise, Mangold, Konrad, Papamichael, Sarsgaard, actor Viola Davis and production designer Andrew Menzies. “Boston” takes us to various locations and discusses issues connected to them. Like “Wilder”, it has some decent details, but it also suffers from its puffy tone; it seems more oriented at promotion than anything else.

Next comes Knight and “Someday”, a look at the song that closes the movie. It goes for nine minutes, nine seconds and goes over how Cruise recruited Black Eyed Peas to do the tune “Someday”. We find them backstage at the O2 in London and also see the Peas play the number at an afterparty. (Literally – Will.I.Am simply spins it, so there’s no actual live performance.) The Peas tell Cruise he’s great, Cruise tells the Peas they’re great, and we hear the pretty weak tune itself. Yawn.

Two Viral Videos pop up after this: “Soccer” (1:10) and “Kick” (1:23). Both purport to be behind the scenes shots of Diaz and Cruise; both are obviously staged. They offer some mild entertainment, though.

We finish the featurettes with Knight and Day: Story (3:50) and Knight and Day: Scope (3:05). These provide notes from Cruise, Diaz, Mangold, Konrad, Sarsgaard, and Smrz. These offer promotional fluff, and they’re also redundant if you already watched the earlier featurettes. They’re a waste of time.

The disc opens with ads for The A-Team, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps and Street Kings 2: Motor City. We also find the trailer for Day.

A second disc provides a Digital Copy of Day, while a thread throws in a Bonus DVD. That’s the same release that you’ll find on store shelves and not some dumbed-down version. It’s a nice addition for fans who want to have the DVD along with the Blu-ray.

Though trailers promised a lively action-comedy-romance, Knight and Day flopped on all fronts. The story went nowhere, the actors lacked chemistry, and the action usually fizzled. The Blu-ray provides very good picture and audio but supplements seem insubstantial and forgettable. As does the movie itself; Day ends up as a loud, boring disappointment.