Can Jamie Foxx (current age 57) and Cameron Diaz (current age 52) still bring it? I ask because we’ve had a recent spate of action films in which our hero/heroine couldn’t … and that’s accounting for the fact that most of their action was handled by a stunt double. Liam Neeson and Halle Berry immediately come to mind.
So, what about Foxx and Diaz? Are they still plausible action heroes? After watching Back in Action, I’d say, “Yes, BUT, their days as action heroes are numbered.” And it wouldn’t have killed the screenplay to have at least one added moment of either: “I’m getting too old for this” or “I’m a little rusty after a 15 year layoff.”
The silliness starts 15 years prior to whenever “present day” is supposed to be where CIA partners/lovers Matt (Foxx) and Emily (Diaz) are tabbed to collect a MacGuffin. This all ends in a bitchin’ fight in the interior of a private jet right after we learn Emily is preggers. That doesn’t stop her from kicking bad guy ass, of course. The plane crashlands in the alps about as conveniently as a plane can crashland – the wings, cockpit, and tail are gone, yet the fuselage remains in tact and our two majors are unscathed and alone; all the bad guys and the MacGuffin are presumed lost. Heck, they can even still enjoy cocktail service if they remain on board.
With Emily pregnant and both leads presumed dead along with everybody else, Matt and Emily decide on the spur of the moment to give up spy life and become normal parents.
15 years later … they have two kids, Alice (McKenna Roberts), a “leave me alone” teen and her younger brother Leo (Rylan Jackson), a kiss-ass nerd. And neither child has any idea their parents were kickass spies until the two helicopter Alice at a nightclub, and end up destroying the place while being called “Boomers.”
Well, that’s not fair. They certainly aren’t Boomers. Gen X has had a frighteningly small role in destroying the world as we know it.
And wouldn’t the kids be impressed upon finding out their parents are spies? I mean, seriously, if I knew my parents were CIA operatives before they were parents, I’d have so much more respect for them. Really and truly.
Alas, this is a movie.
Turns out, the nightclub brawl goes viral, opening up a world of hurt and a return of the MacGuffin.
Hold up. The MacGuffin was a piece of tech that is fifteen (15!) years old and you still expect 
it to be relevant?! Ha! That’s rich. Ok, I’ll play your little game. It makes equally as much non-sense that Matt and Emily can return to top CIA spy form after 15 years on the couch. Does nobody respect professionalism anymore? Suffice to say, there will be ass-kicking and world domination, and some teenage stuff thrown in for the next 75 minutes or so.
Back in Action is a classic popcorn film. You can enjoy it while not taking it seriously. Netflix has a few of these every year; Lift and Canary Black come to mind. Back in Action is better than both of those films … but not much better. I don’t know how much longer Foxx and Diaz will get to play action heroes, but it seems likely they’ll get at least one more chance. There are far worse things in this world.
A pair of agents, Emily and Matt
Decided espionage wasn’t all that
They ditched the spy game
And their lives were so tame
Until their daughter discovered snapchat
Rated PG-13, 114 Minutes
Director: Seth Gordon
Writer: Seth Gordon, Brendan O’Brien
Genre: Hey! I remember those guys!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Overachieving middle-aged parents
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Underachieving middle-aged parents
