Moviegoers who enjoyed Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible IV, Collateral or Days of Thunder will be thrilled to watch the fast-paced, thrill-a-minute Knight and Day. Intrigue starts with scene one in an airport where covert agent Roy Miller picks out an innocent passenger to help him sneak a key tool through security.

When the beautiful June Havens (Cameron Diaz) accidentally bumps into Roy Miller (Cruise) at an airport she dismisses it as an accident. But when he plows into her at another spot in the airport, she dreamily thinks it’s an omen. She’s intrigued by the affable guy with an adorable grin. June doesn’t know what to think when she realizes they’re going on the same plane until she’s told at the last minute that the plane is full, and she won’t be boarding. Her plea that she must get to her sister’s wedding in Boston falls on deaf ears. Yet only minutes later, Roy seems to fix everything, and she’s allowed to board.

June is further perplexed after seeing only a handful of men on the entire plane. Small talk with Roy across the aisle from her eases her tension until things quickly turn into a Ridley’s believe-it-or not moment with Roy ending up taking over piloting the plane.

The rest of the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game with Roy keeping his real mission a secret as he drags June all over the planet. They dodge more bullets than good films this year but keep the entertainment coming. As they leap from one roof top to another, June is never sure if Roy is a good guy or not. Just when she seems most vulnerable, he does something that endures him to her even more. When they end up on Roy’s secret island, one he swears is untraceable for cell service, June manages to test that theory too. No time for lunch there!

Both actors step up their game for this movie. And let’s face it -- you won’t remember anyone else in the movie. Because Cruise excels in this kind of action, he brings nothing new to the film, but he does have a chemistry with Diaz that works well for the romantic angle here.  

“The challenge and joy for Cameron and me was finding ways to reveal our characters in the middle of these manic moments of danger -- showing how Roy and June start to bring out the best in each other, which is the ultimate romantic idea,” Cruise said about his role.

Diaz, who was actually attached to the movie before Cruise, liked the script. “I was drawn to Knight and Day not only for its high-level action, but because I saw it as an impassioned love story between two people who find each other from opposite worlds,” she said.

The movie also looks spectacular. Director James Mangold does a great job handling his co-stars and the safety measures required for their stunts. He brought his director of photography, Phedon Papamichae on board. They worked together before in Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma.

While most of the movie’s thrill scenes are seen in the trailer, and moviegoers may not have as much fun as Cruise and Diaz obviously experienced while making Knight and Day, this film is still fun and exciting to watch.

(Released by 20^th Century Fox Pictures and rated “PG-13” for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.