A Cameron Diaz Action Movie Is Taking Over Prime Video's Top Charts

In recent years, acclaimed actress Cameron Diaz has sort of stepped out of the spotlight — put a pin in that, actually — but that hasn't stopped one of her movies from crushing it on Amazon Prime Video.

According to FlixPatrol, Diaz's 2010 film with Tom Cruise, cheekily titled "Knight and Day," is soaring to the top of Prime Video's movie charts, nearly two decades after its original release. This spy caper harkens back to a time when Diaz was one of the most beloved and marketable stars on the planet and appeared in blockbuster films with regularity, and point in fact, "Knight and Day" performed quite respectably at the box office, earning a total of $262 million against a pretty big budget of $117 million, proving that both Diaz and Cruise were massive draws back then. (To be fair to Cruise, he definitely still is, and he's still leading movies like "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Mission: Impossible" sequels that really clean up at the box office.)

If you're unfamiliar with "Knight and Day" — helmed by future "Logan" and "A Complete Unknown" director James Mangold — here's the basic gist. After classic car restorer June Havens (Diaz) ends up sitting next to CIA agent Roy Miller (Cruise) on a flight — only because June literally bumps into Roy at the airport, leading his fellow agents to assume they're working together — and ends up drawn into a world she never expected to enter into. So what else can you expect from the fun, breezy "Knight and Day" — a film that relies heavily on the chemistry and charisma of both Diaz and Cruise, something which definitely ends up working in its favor in the end?

After Roy Miller's CIA evil cohort John Fitzgerald (a quite funny, sneering Peter Sarsgaard) incorrectly assumes that June is a colleague of theirs, "Knight and Day" really gets things started. June heads to the airplane bathroom, unaware that anything is happening that's out of the ordinary, while Roy takes care of the flight crew and passengers, the rest of whom were sent by Fitzgerald to intercept him, June is understandably taken aback as he crash-lands the plane. It's eventually revealed that Roy is in possession of a perpetual energy battery known as the Zephyr, which Fitzgerald is trying to steal. Not only that, but June eventually discovers, through a serious of wild events, that Roy's real name is Matthew Knight, and he might need saving.

So what did critics think of "Knight and Day" when it first came out? They were decidedly mixed, with a bent towards fairly negative coverage. Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall rating of 51% with a critical consensus that declares, "It's pure formula, but thanks to its breezy pace and a pair of charming performances from Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, 'Knight and Day' offers some agreeably middle-of-the-road summer action." For The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote, "It's not bad DVD entertainment, but as a big summer movie, it's a bit of a washout." Kenneth Turan, however, praised "Knight and Day" for the Los Angeles Times: "If you doubt Cruise's skills in the star department, 'Knight and Day' should make you a believer." Ultimately, king of film critics Roger Ebert liked the movie well enough in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, saying, "The wonder is that Cruise and Diaz are effective enough in their roles that they're not overwhelmed by all the commotion surrounding them."

Again, let's remember that, at one point, Cameron Diaz was one of the most popular and in-demand actresses of her generation, headlining modest to enormous box-office hits like both "Charlie's Angels" reboots, "The Sweetest Thing," and even the extremely dark comedy "Bad Teacher" (which is actually really funny, so definitely give it a chance if you haven't checked it out already). After her 2014 take on "Annie," though, where Diaz plays the villainous Miss Hannigan alongside Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie and Jamix Foxx as Mr. William Stacks, Diaz — known for her breezily funny on-screen persona, off-the-charts charisma, and megawatt smile, stepped out of the spotlight.

Diaz ultimately revealed that she chose to take a potentially permanent break from acting to focus on both her family — she has two children with her husband, "Good Charlotte" musician Benji Madden — and other ventures, including her organic wine company Avaline. Then, in 2022, news broke that Diaz would break containment, so to speak, to appear in a Netflix original movie appropriately titled "Back in Action" and reunite with Foxx ... and as of this writing, Diaz is attached to Jonah Hill's dark comedy "Outcome" (alongside Hill himself and Keanu Reeves) as well as the long-awaited sequel "Shrek 5," where she'll reprise her vocal role as the franchise's leading lady Princess Fiona.

At this point, it looks like Diaz is back in the game, but her new projects aren't here just yet. For now, you can watch "Knight and Day" on Prime Video.