‘Back in Action’ Review: Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz in a Domestic Spy Caper as Generic as Its Title
variety.comOwen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In “Back in Action,” a domestic spy caper as generic as its title, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, as CIA operatives who’ve become a romantic couple, attend a kids’ birthday party thrown by a cyberterrorist from Belarus whose safe they’re planning to break into.
But their identities are unmasked in about five minutes. They have to fight their way out of the criminal’s mansion, which they do in an extended sequence of bone-breaking face-offs, all accompanied by Frank Sinatra singing “L.O.V.E.” (“L…is for the way you look… at me…”).
The song, as it’s used here, lays on the ironic jauntiness with a trowel. It’s the film’s way of saying: Nothing’s at stake, don’t take it seriously, turn off your brain and sink into the warm bath of this Netflix product-of the-week (because that’s all it’s here for).
Seth Gordon, the director of “Back in Action,” thinks in cartoon-reality terms. He thinks that’s his job, and setting ultraviolent action sequences to old standards is just about the only playbook “Back in Action” has.
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