Cast
Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx)
Bristol (Doug Hutchison)
Edgar Clenteen (David Morse)
Lisa (Kimberly Elise)
John Jaster (Robert Pastorelli)
Directed by Antoine Fuqua Written by Andrew Scheinman, Adam
Scheinman and Tony Gilroy
Rated R for language, violence and sexuality
Running Time: 119 minutes Distributed by Warner Bros.
Bait
is a pretty enjoyable action comedy. The film opens with a
robbery of the Federal Reserve going wrong between two thieves
and the 42 million dollars in gold that they stole. One of
the thieves, John Jaster (Pastorelli), is caught but not before
stashing away all of the gold. The other thieve, Bristol (Hutchison),
who was the mastermind of the robbery is left angered by being
left empty handed. In steps U.S. Treasury Dept. investigator
Clenteen (Morse) to question Jaster about the whereabouts
of the gold. Unexpectedly, Jaster dies of heart failure during
the questioning. Clenteen's only source left to the gold is
Jaster's cellmate, Alvin Sanders (Foxx), who is an in and
out of jail wisecracking young man. Unable to receive any
knowledge from Alvin of where the gold is, Clenteen is awarded
the power to implant a new government-tracking device into
Alvin's jawbone. Now out of prison, Alvin Sanders is unknowingly
bait for the government to attempt to capture Bristol and
find the gold.
Bait
is nothing spectacular, but it is a good action film that
has some funny moments.
Antoine
Fuqua called the shots as director of Bait. Fuqua is a former
music video and commercial director that made his film directorial
debut with The Replacement Killers. Fuqua's direction in The
Replacement Killers was stylish and flashy, but there was
something missing. However, with Bait he does an admirable
job with all the different shots and aspects of the film.
I really thought that his action scenes were to the point
and equivalent. What I mean is that the action scenes didn't
drag on by means of various angular shots and too much slow
motion.
Three
writers, Andrew Scheinman, Adam Scheinman and Tony Gilroy
created the script for Bait. The script seemed to be original
with some similarities to other films, but not over taken
by too many cliches. The whole government-tracking device
did in a way seem like Enemy of the State. However, the sequencing
and the ways that Alvin figures things out along with the
intelligence of the bad guy are what stand out in the script.
The film's climax is somewhat typical for an action film,
but I still liked it. The writers also made the characters
colorful, like with Clenteen always having headaches or Alvin
as a thief of shrimp, no prans. The overall script isn't great,
but it works.
I
really hope that Jamie Foxx hits it big. I enjoyed his work
on In Living Color and he really impressed me with his acting
in Any Given Sunday. He delivers an amusing performance in
Bait as Alvin. Foxx is more believable with his characters
than some of the actors he might be compared to, like Martin
Lawrence or Chris Tucker. Foxx is better than his comparisons
and you can certainly tell that he takes his acting more seriously.
I have always thought of David Morse as a "cool" actor. In
which his role in Bait is definitely a David Morse role. He
is a very flexible actor and he is at his best when he is
superior (like in The Crossing Guard) and ensemble (like in
The Green Mile). David Morse is a good actor to have in any
cast. Doug Hutchison delivers an in-depth and dark performance
as the psychopathic thief, Bristol. Hutchison should have
received an Oscar nomination last year for his role as the
pest Percy in The Green Mile. This actor has got some serious
skills and I can't wait to see what he will deliver next.
If
you are looking for a good time of laughs, action and some
thrills, I recommend seeing Bait. It is better than most of
the action films of last summer, like Mission: Impossible
2, Shaft and Gone in Sixty Seconds. Bait is nothing special,
but very likeable.
Report
Card Grade: B
Beastman's
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