Written by Marina Coates
For the first time in a decade, Cameron Diaz is back, but it’s not the comeback we were hoping for.
Back in Action centers around two ex-spies-turned-suburban-parents, Emily (Diaz) and Matt (Jamie Foxx) who, after an ill-fated mission and a pregnancy announcement, decide to leave their life behind to start anew. This brings us to the film’s first flaw, after 15 years, the couple peacefully lives with their two kids in suburbia with no disguises whatsoever. After they follow their teenage daughter to a club and beat up some older partiers, the video goes viral and reveals their identities. How their identities were kept a secret for so long, we don’t know. Nonetheless, the family must flee the country to escape their enemies and recover a key hidden at Emily’s estranged mother’s English estate. Of course, this is done through many over-the-top fight scenes set to old love songs. (The point is obvious, espionage is the third, essential member of their relationship, but it just doesn’t work).
Once at Emily’s mother’s house, we meet former superspy Ginny (Glenn Close) and her much younger boyfriend Nigel (Jamie Demetriou), who insists upon being referred to as the kids’ grandfather. If this film has one star it is Demetriou’s Nigel. Studying under Ginny to become a spy, we quickly learn Nigel has very few skills when it comes to anything close to being a secret agent. This flaw comes to a head when he is assigned to IT duties during the final fight and he cannot control a computer for the life of him.
Back in Action has no clear motive, stakes, or goals for its characters. The plot is motivated by a key which is perhaps something that can be used to turn the power grid off and/or flood the city. Then there’s an auction for which city will suffer from the flood—London or Paris. And an odd subplot with Emily’s past boyfriend and the feelings he still harbors for her, which clearly interfere with his work.
We close, of course, with a climactic fight scene, the kids stepping up and becoming spies in their own right, family reconciliation, and a classic final line promising a sequel. It’s entertaining if you need something to throw on in the background, but don’t expect anything like Get Smart or a James Bond film.
