Back in Action

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx star in this lame action thriller as former spies forced out of retirement after being spotted getting into a public altercation involving their rebellious teenage daughter (McKenna Roberts) in a night club. Back in Action is a charmless paint-by-number genre flick with the cast going through the motions as the family finds itself on the run eventually pulling in Emily's (Diaz) British mother (Glenn Close) and her ridiculous boyfriend (Jamie Demetriou).

Of course the fate of the world rests on these spies and the super computer widget capable of breaking into any computer system which our super-spies save from the baddies at the beginning of the film. The script by writer/director Seth Gordon and Brendan O'Brien is filled with groanworthy attempts at generational humor between the spies and their kids and some intense fight and stunt sequences that don't mesh with the more farcical "humor" of a story we're never given a reason to take seriously.

I'm not sure what movie Back in Action is supposed to be. It's far more serious than spy comedies and spoofs but with a heavy does of action and a pretty high stunt budget for a film that hits all the cliches without ever once giving us anything believable. It's a half-hour sitcom-level concept stretched out overly nearly two-hours. The result is a mishmash that simultaneously fails to work every one of these action subgenres. It's great Cameron Diaz is back making movies again, but maybe we can find something a bit better for her next time?

Watch the trailer

• Title: Back in Action
• IMDb: link