Directed By Seth Gordon

Starring – Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Kyle Chandler

The Plot – Former CIA spies Emily (Diaz) and Matt (Foxx) are pulled back into espionage after their secret identities are exposed.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references and strong adult language, and brief teen partying

Back in Action | Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz | Official Trailer | Netflix

POSITIVES

Despite there being very little about “Back in Action” that materializes into profitable returns, the collective efforts of this surprisingly remarkable ensemble are its single biggest beneficial takeaway, with Foxx and Diaz slipping back into the charismatic naturality that both of them have made prestigious careers from. While neither of their character outlines are asked to do anything too demanding emotionally, Foxx’s swagger and calmness in cool factor combined with Diaz’s restlessness in manically frantic energy prove a charmingly chaotic dynamic that certifies each of their collective efforts refusing to sleep through their respective opportunities, whether in the monotony of family life, or high stakes urgency as two of the world’s most capably articulate spies that each of them openly embrace with the kind of self-deprecating humor that ever refuses to take its engagement or its ever-changing situations too seriously. Foxx and Diaz are joined by Kyle Chandler, Andrew Scott, and Glenn Close to round out one of the more random casts that I’ve seen in recent memory, and though it’s really only Close who steps up to the bat to hit a home run in making the most of her minimal time with a ruthlessly aggressive and mission-driven spy turn of her own, with impeccable comedic timing allowing her to chew up the scenery in every scene like it was her last meal, it’s a chance to see each of them in such creatively diverse roles that they otherwise wouldn’t be given a chance to enact, throwing just enough star power to possibly fool audiences into thinking that they had a good time with the film. In addition to such a star-studded affair, the film’s light and airy tone is probably the best decision that the production made, especially in that the action is so boringly monotonous and forgettable that it could immediately halt audience interests, once they interpret that these scenes are as good as the movie will ever truly get. The soundtrack of assorted pop favorites manages to maintain a care-free exuberance atmospherically in ways that balance the air of devastation that envelopes these characters, all the while enacting music video like visuals that keeps the fun factor enticing for nearly all ages of the familial scale.

NEGATIVES

This movie plays like a middle aged white woman’s fantasy of escapism, particularly in the complete lack of naturalism to both the presentation and storytelling, which made it a frequent source of misery throughout a tediously contrived and underdeveloped story that appraised little to no entertainment value to match such a monumental A-list ensemble. Part of the issue definitely springs from the familiarity of this story, with a married spy couple diving back into a world of espionage that certainly brought back similarities from “True Lies” or “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, which both not only did it first, but also did it better, especially in playing to a story that felt original for its time, but is now shrouded in the kind of predictability that had me accurately guessing the entirety of the movie, within the opening fifteen minutes. Considering a story of spies typically pertains to a lot of secret developments and obscured backstories, the reveals here completely lack any kind of impactful emphasis in ways that could’ve paid off the nearly two hour run time accordingly, especially with one link pertaining to the man in the shadows steering the operation, which couldn’t be anymore obvious if the character revealed as such was wearing a shirt before the turn, with bold letters that said bluntly “I AM THE VILLAIN”. Predictability also follows through into the execution of various expository scenes and sequences, as both the zeroed in visuals focusing on an otherwise unimportant object and desperation-heavy dialogue force the film and its flatly underlining punchlines to show its hand long before the characters have a chance to, with unsubtle summarizations involving everything that you’re required to know about a character or their backstory without the need to ever pay attention to faithfully grasp. If this isn’t enough, the film’s action sequences are nothing to write home about, despite solid fight choreography from the stunt men and actors that does the heavy lifting of suspending the disbelief of Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz leveling men that are twice their size. Gordon’s staging certainly does these sequences no favors, with obligatory drone shots and momentum-killing edits making the pay-off action undetectably compromised with unflattering distance between us and the actors, which halts the immersive essence that sight and sound are supposed to marry for the audience to feel the impacts of these devastating blows. When the film’s momentum isn’t halted by compromising captures, the overwhelming artificiality in greenscreen backdrops becomes apparent the very second that they oversaturate the film’s canvas, with unrelenting hollowness to budgetary exploits that prove how little of time and effort was utilized to shoot the movie’s production on-site. The worst of it is easily during the opening act, when the snow covered mountains of the backdrop evidentially don’t elicit any kind of exhaled breath to the characters involved in cold surroundings, and while it’s something that probably won’t bother mainstream audiences, it’s a concentration-breaking example of the things in movies that drive me completely crazy, eviscerating believability with a complete lack of care or attention in ways that immediately keep me from taking it seriously. Speaking of believability, I loved that Foxx nor Diaz’s appearances even remotely changed or aged between the fifteen years that make up the entirety of this film’s story, especially considering they’re CIA spies who should probably alter their appearances, in order to keep the single greatest intelligence agency from finding them. I’m not exactly asking for hilarious wigs or de-aging, but they would be two evidential examples of appearance that would’ve made the timely shift forward feel all the more tangibly realistic, giving us some kind of shining example that the film is even remotely capable of following the rules that it establishes for itself. Finally, and perhaps most echoingly of the film’s disastrous execution, the comedy fails to humiliating levels of effectiveness, primarily within a PG-13 captivity that always makes the actors and material feel like they’re holding back from a more realistic form of expression to such overwhelmingly vulnerable situations. It’s bad enough when the material focuses on Foxx and Diaz’s aging ignorance playing off of youthful environments, particularly one involving hipsters labeling Diaz’s Emily with such noteworthy phrases as “Karen” and “Boomer”, but it’s so much worse when the humor shifts to the family road trip, when the children of these protagonists are repeatedly asked to respond to the actions of their parents with the kind of wistful ignorance that casually winks and nods to the audience beyond. While I did laugh twice throughout the film, as a result of Foxx’s occasionally unrestrained responses, the attempts to bolster a fun and frenetic experience go unfulfilled, and the material constantly comes across as coyly corny, relegating it to the worst kind of family humor that instead could’ve used a vital R-rating to elevate it with limitless possibilities.

OVERALL
“Back in Action” is another uninspired example of the Netflix machine casually spitting out another derivatively bland and sloppily produced action film that throws enough star power at the screen to convince audiences to give it a chance. While Foxx and Diaz’s chemistry occasionally makes the engagement tolerable with the expressive energy that they supplant to their respective approaches, the film’s formulaic roots surrounding their efforts offer a predictably muddled and conveniently contrived globe-trotting excursion that doesn’t impress with its action, nor level with its comedy, instead serving to fill the content quota of a streaming app that churns a new one of these films out each week.

My Grade: 3.8 or F+