Quick, what's the easiest way for an actor to destroy almost all of his credibility with the critics? Well, for one thing, he could appear in something as derivative and downright ugly as "Bait."
The unfortunate victim this time is Jamie Foxx, who received some deservedly good notices for his somewhat showy role in the Oliver Stone football movie "Any Given Sunday."
But what he's done to follow it up is star in a supposedly comedic thriller that's an all-too-transparent rip-off of both "Blue Streak" and "Enemy of the State." While it's certainly less irritating than the former (it's lacking Martin Lawrence, which is at least one thing in its favor), "Bait" has a real vicious streak that even all of Foxx's charm and one-liners can't overcome.
Of course, it's not as if he's been given good material to work with. And it doesn't help that he's being directed by a filmmaker (Antoine Fuqua, of "The Replacement Killers" fame) who shoots every action scene in either extreme close-up or with "shaky-cam" work that makes it hard to tell what's going on.
Foxx plays the unfortunate title character, petty crook Alvin Sanders, who's just been sent to jail for an attempted restaurant-robbery-gone-bad (the not-too-bright thief was caught stealing prawns).
There, he finds himself in a cell with John Jaster (Robert Pastorelli), who nearly got away with the theft of $40 million in gold. Unfortunately for U.S. Treasury investigator Edgar Clenteen (David Morse), Jaster dies before he can tell him where the gold has been stashed.
So the only clue to the loot's whereabouts is Alvin. But all Jaster left him with was something nebulous about the Bronx Zoo and a "Wizard of Oz" reference, which is hardly enough to to go on.
However, Clenteen is so desperate to find the gold, as well as Jaster's vicious, high-tech-whiz partner, Bristol (Doug Hutchison), that he springs Alvin early — keeping in contact with the clueless ex-con by a sophisticated tracking device implanted in his jaw.
What Clenteen is hoping is that the elusive Bristol will surface long enough to make contact with Alvin and that they'll finally be able to nab the murderous hacker once and for all.
To say the premise is pretty far-fetched would be a mild understatement. And Fuqua and a trio of screenwriters treat the material much more seriously than it deserves.
In fact, the only one who really seems to at least lighten the surprisingly dark tone is Foxx, whose clearly improvised riffs could be said to be the film's only real highlights. Also, he's the only one who seems to be having any fun.
As Clenteen, Morse is too one-note (and much too cruel and unsympathetic, though that's the way his character has been written), while Hutchison (who was much better in "The Green Mile," also with Morse) seems to think he's the second coming of Peter Lorre.
Even Kimberly Elise, playing Alvin's love interest, is wasted in a do-nothing role, as are actors David Paymer and Jamie Kennedy, who deserve far better material than this.
"Bait" is rated R for brutal violence (including fistfights, gunplay and explosions), strong profanity, simulated sex, crude humor (scatological) and some sex talk, as well as as a scene of torture. Running time: 119 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com