BACK IN ACTION Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Seth Gordon
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, McKenna Roberts, Rylan Jackson, Kyle Chandler, Andrew Scott, Glenn Close, Jamie Demetriou, Robert Besta, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Cruz Hadley.
This cliched and generic globetrotting action comedy from Netflix reteams Cameron Diaz (in her first movie since 2014’s Annie over a decade ago) with Jamie Foxx. This is the lesser of their three collaborations.
Foxx and Diaz play Matt and Emily, a pair of NOC CIA agents who are drawn back into the world of espionage fifteen years after they went off the grid following a compromised mission. Now they are suburban parents living in Atlanta and raising their two children – rebellious 14-year-old daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts) and curious 12-year-old Leo (Rylan Jackson), who know nothing of their parents’ background and think that their excessive caution makes them uncool.
But their past comes back when their former handler Chuck (Kyle Chandler, from tv series Friday Night Lights, etc) rocks up on their doorstep warning them that they are in danger.
Their former nemesis, Polish billionaire arms dealer and terrorist Gor (Robert Besta), suspects that they know the location of a device known as “the key” – an industrial control system that can grant access and control to any system – which the pair were supposed to have stolen fifteen years earlier before their mission went south and they barely escaped with their lives. But then their house is attacked by the Volka – a group of mercenaries under Gor’s control. Cue car chases, shootout and narrow escapes as Matt and Emily outrun the mercenaries. Collecting their children from school they flee.
Eventually they make their way to England where Emily reluctantly is forced to reconnect with her estranged mother Ginny Curtis (Glenn Close, having fun), herself a retired spy and a legend within British Intelligence circles. Also on their trail is suave but harried MI6 agent Baron (Andrew Scott), who happens to be Emily’s former lover and whose loyalties are uncertain.
It all comes to a climax at the Tate Modern during the lavish opening of a new exhibition where the key is being auctioned off to the highest bidder and a dramatic boat chase along the Thames.
Back In Action was co-written by Brendan O’Brien (Neighbors, etc) and director Seth Gordon, better known for his comedies like Horrible Bosses, etc. Gordon keeps things moving along at a fast pace that doesn’t give the audience much time to think about the silliness of it all. The numerous fights and chases sequences are all well-choreographed and the stunt work is very good. However, the CGI effects are a little obvious, especially in the opening pre-credits sequence.
The family dynamics provide plenty of laughs. Diaz and Foxx share palpable chemistry as they trade quips and effortless banter. Close seems to be enjoying herself here, and Jamie Demetriou (from Fleabag, etc), has a nicely droll presence and provides some big laughs as Ginny’s toyboy Nigel. Both Chandler and Scott though are largely wasted in thankless, cliched roles that give them little to do. They both deserve better.
Back In Action is solid escapist fare and it’s good to see Diaz back in action after a ten-year hiatus.
★★★
