Tag: Foxxs

  • Back in Action: Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx’s new Netflix movie is a new low for Hollywood creativity


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    It is funny that in the same week that the Oscar-tipped epic The Brutalist was engulfed in a controversy about its (relatively minor) use of AI, audiences were presented with the first entirely AI-generated movie! Or at least what you imagine an entirely AI-generated movie would be: Netflix’s shiny, sterile Back in Action, a film so dismayingly soulless that it could mark a new low in Hollywood creativity.

    Why Cameron Diaz chose this to be her first film in a decade is just one of the many mysteries kicked up by Back in Action, which is currently sitting atop Netflix’s Top 10 list. Others include: “When did Andrew Scott forget how to act?”; “What karmic debt does Glenn Close owe Netflix on the heels of this, The Deliverance and Hillbilly Elegy?”; and “What is the rate of return for a straight-to-streaming blockbuster that rented out the Tate Modern for an action setpiece, then staged a combined speedboat and motorbike chase along the Thames?”

    Mainly, though, you’re left wondering why any real sense of style or creative vigour has dropped out of films like these, with their devotion to standard action genre plot tropes and faint duplication of older, better movies. Back in Action casts Diaz and Jamie Foxx as a spy couple who unexpectedly get pregnant and decide to go off-grid, only for their past to catch up with them – and their clueless-to-their-parents’-old-jobs children – 15 years later. A rotation of nondescript bad guys wants hold of “The Key”, a MacGuffin of such criminal vagueness that it may as well have been called “The Object” or “The Thingamajig”. See, in the wrong hands The Key can drain entire city blocks of power, and only Foxx’s character knows where The Key is hidden.

    Diaz and Foxx, with kids in tow, hightail it to London to seek protection from Diaz’s mother, a wealthy ex-spy played with a curiously erratic English accent by Close. She, meanwhile, is in a relationship with an eccentric Brit played in peak “Jack Whitehall-coded comic relief” mode by Stath Lets Flats’s Jamie Demetriou. And all of these characters soon find themselves pursued not only by an MI6 spy (Scott, crushingly vacant) but also by a CIA operative played by Friday Night Lights’s Kyle Chandler, one of the greatest American TV stars of the Noughties, here reduced to delivering stern reams of exposition in between gunfights.

    Typically, the combined star power in Back in Action should be able to compensate for everything else. But there is no crackle between Foxx and Diaz, two charismatic, dependable movie stars who nonetheless operate on different comic wavelengths – he the cocky smart alec, she the sunny free spirit. And it’s debatable whether the pair were even together most of the time. Foxx was hospitalised during filming after experiencing a near-fatal stroke, meaning a body double was used in a number of scenes that he was unable to shoot. That might explain why the camera so consistently cuts between static shots of his and Diaz’s individual heads, as if to paper over the fact that they weren’t in the same place.

    It’s all depressingly tossed together, crudely edited and almost impressively unfunny. But maybe that’s the point. A recent report in the arts magazine n+1 claimed that Netflix bosses have been asking screenwriters to make sure their characters “announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have [the] programme on in the background can follow along”. They allegedly want “casual viewing” content, meaning things you don’t really have to pay attention to. Back in Action is more or less this in practice: a collection of sounds, images and explosions, stripped of characters or jokes. It’s a vague approximation of moviemaking, to be watched between swipes of your phone, or while untangling plug cables in your living room.

    Send it back: Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx in ‘Back in Action’
    Send it back: Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx in ‘Back in Action’ (Netflix)

    Back in Action certainly isn’t the first of its kind to feel like this – between Netflix, Prime and Apple TV+, there is now an entire subgenre of speedily forgotten movies in which Ryan Reynolds types tangle with beautiful women armed with pistols and sass, from the Chris Evans/Ana de Armas flop Ghosted to the Mark Wahlberg/Halle Berry actioner The Union. But Back in Action feels the most egregious, perhaps because it stars an actor quite literally beamed in from a very different era in film production. Even Diaz’s worst movies had a sense of style to them, or a feeling that people were actively trying to make something halfway decent. Knight & Day, her Back in Action-style globetrotting caper with Tom Cruise, was released 15 years ago, and its gags, stuntwork and general spectacle feel almost herculean in comparison to the thrifty nothingness of her new film.

    The biggest worry here, though, is not that a film like Back in Action is phoning it in, but that it – and films like it – are rewiring our understanding of what these kinds of movies are. An era of “casual viewing” shouldn’t mean lowered expectations, or cut corners, or rote storytelling. Action movies can be better. Should be better. And, up until very recently, really were better. If films are to survive amid a deluge of content fighting for our collective attention span, effort must be made. All Back in Action does is twist the knife in further.

    ‘Back in Action’ is streaming on Netflix



    Get ready for another lackluster Hollywood film, as Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx team up for a new Netflix movie that is sure to disappoint. Titled “Back in Action,” this film seems to be a desperate attempt to cash in on the star power of Diaz and Foxx, rather than offer anything innovative or original.

    Despite both actors having proven themselves as talented performers in the past, “Back in Action” feels like a step backwards for both of them. The plot is generic and uninspired, following a mismatched pair of detectives who must work together to solve a crime. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s a tired trope that has been done to death in countless other buddy cop movies.

    It’s disheartening to see two talented actors like Diaz and Foxx wasting their talents on such a formulaic and unoriginal project. It seems that Hollywood has run out of fresh ideas and is resorting to recycling tired clichés in the hopes of turning a profit.

    As audiences, we deserve better than this. We deserve films that challenge us, inspire us, and make us think. “Back in Action” is not that film. It’s a lazy, uninspired cash grab that does a disservice to both its actors and its audience.

    So, if you’re looking for a truly engaging and original film to watch, you may want to skip “Back in Action” and look elsewhere. Hollywood may be running low on creativity, but that doesn’t mean we have to settle for mediocrity.

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    2. Jamie Foxx
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    #Action #Cameron #Diaz #Jamie #Foxxs #Netflix #movie #Hollywood #creativity

  • Jamie Foxx’s ‘Back In Action’ Marks Netflix’s Biggest Movie Debut In Years


    Jamie Foxx’s glorious return from his health scare continues, as the actor’s new film, Back In Action, has become one of Netflix’s biggest film debuts in years.

    On Tuesday (Jan. 21), Variety reported that Back In Action, Foxx’s comedic action-thriller co-starring Cameron Diaz, amassed 46.8 million views in just three days following its release last Friday (Jan. 17).

    This makes Back In Action the most successful English-language film release on Netflix since The Adam Project, which premiered on the platform in March 2022.

    Jamie Foxx

    Jamie Foxx attends the “Creed III” European Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on February 15, 2023 in London, England.

    Back in Action finds Foxx playing opposite Diaz in the role of CIA spies who left the field to start a family together, but are forced to rely on old tactics after their cover is blown.

    Featuring a cast that includes Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction) Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers), Jamie Demetriou (Barbie), McKenna Roberts (Skyscraper), and Rylan Jackson (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Back In Action marks Foxx and Diaz’s third film together.

    The reunion is one that the Academy Award winner says he has been looking forward to for years.

    Jamie Foxx, Jamie Demetriou, Cameron Diaz and Seth Gordon attend the photocall for “Back In Action” at Cheval Three Quays on January 17, 2025 in London, England.

    Jamie Foxx, Jamie Demetriou, Cameron Diaz and Seth Gordon attend the photocall for “Back In Action” at Cheval Three Quays on January 17, 2025 in London, England.

    “A lot of people don’t know this, but after Cameron and I did Any Given Sunday and Annie together, we became friends in real life — and I’ve been begging her to come play with me again,” said Foxx, who also served as an executive producer of Back In Action.

    “We all know there’s just something about her…,” the jokester added, referencing Diaz’s popular 1998 film, There’s Something About Mary.

    Back In Action marks Jamie Foxx’s second Netflix release since being hospitalized after falling ill in April 2023. In December 2024, the Texas native released the Netflix comedy special, What Had Happened Was, his first stand-up film in over two decades.

    Jamie Foxx

    Jamie Foxx attends the world premiere of Netflix’s “Day Shift” at Regal LA Live on August 10, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

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    Jamie Foxx’s latest action-packed thriller, ‘Back In Action’, has taken Netflix by storm, marking the streaming platform’s biggest movie debut in years. The film, which stars Foxx as a former special ops agent seeking revenge against his former team, has garnered rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.

    With its heart-pounding action sequences, gripping storyline, and stellar performances from the cast, ‘Back In Action’ has quickly become a must-watch for action movie fans. Foxx’s charismatic portrayal of the lead character has been hailed as one of his best performances to date, further solidifying his status as a Hollywood powerhouse.

    The success of ‘Back In Action’ on Netflix serves as a testament to the streaming platform’s ability to deliver high-quality, blockbuster entertainment to its subscribers. As more and more viewers turn to streaming services for their movie-watching needs, it’s clear that Netflix is leading the charge in providing top-notch content for audiences around the world.

    If you haven’t already checked out ‘Back In Action’, now is the perfect time to do so. Grab some popcorn, settle in on the couch, and get ready for a wild ride with Jamie Foxx in this adrenaline-fueled thriller. You won’t be disappointed!

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    2. Back In Action
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    #Jamie #Foxxs #Action #Marks #Netflixs #Biggest #Movie #Debut #Years