Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz are Back In Action for a familiar spy comedy

After co-starring with Jamie Foxx in the 2014 adaptation of Annie, Cameron Diaz retired from Hollywood to focus on her family and enjoy the stockpiled laurels from two decades of being Miss All American. Now, 10 years later, she returns, reteaming with Foxx for Back In Action. This is also a bit of a return for Foxx, who suffered a stroke near the end of filming in 2023, but has since fully recovered. The pair star as Emily and Matt, two spies in love at a crossroads, deciding whether to stay on call or start a family. For 15 years, their decision to become parents seemed like the peaceful choice. But children have a way of triggering buried habits. Before they know it, a viral incident throws everyone back into a world of global espionage, family-friendly terrorism, and ass-kicking.

Seth Gordon’s action-comedy succeeds in its primary objective of showcasing Diaz and Foxx’s still very present talents. Foxx is given considerable screentime to flex his muscles and comedic chops, while Diaz remains an angel, able to throw punches and one-liners with balletic ease. They clearly enjoy working with each other, and their efforts prove that action films aren’t all that different from musicals. They are in sync and settled into an enjoyable rhythm as they tackle the woes of childrearing and small arms fire. Yet, Matt and Emily stay the same, never growing or learning anything new, except that good parenting uses surveillance to keep tabs on your children. They fall so easily back into being spies and so rarely have setbacks, that it’s a shame that these characters don’t allow either performer to stretch their talents. Instead, they remain paralyzed, immobile, and inexpressive of anything more than nostalgia.

There are some surprises. For some inexplicable reason, Emily holds dual citizenship with the U.K. and lives in the U.S. to avoid her absentee mother, Ginny (Glenn Close), an “MI6 girl boss legend” who hates hugs. Ginny and her strapping, hilarious younger lover Nigel (Jamie Demetriou) get the freshest material of the film. Close is a delicious caricature of the British stiff upper lip, and Demetriou is her bumbling gentleman. They also have more sexual chemistry in a single scene than Diaz and Foxx have in the entire movie. A Glenn Close action sequence in 2025 delights, because it feels new, which starkly contrasts with the predictable plotting that Diaz and Foxx must dropkick their way through.

Back In Action repeatedly relies on formulaic set pieces. Foreign baddies (like Andrew Scott) send their ghouls across planes, trains, and automobiles to obtain The Key, which the spies’ contact in the U.S. government (Kyle Chandler) says unlocks “some of the world’s most critical infrastructures.” It’s all intentionally innocuous and generic, merely an excuse for another fight sequence and two dashes of witty dialogue. Though the threat of “another Chernobyl” is on the line, we never feel in peril of losing more than two hours of our time.

In fact, though the film has gotten Diaz out the door, it seems entirely unsure of what to do with her. Diaz still has all the endearing qualities that made her the girl next door of the new millennium; she loves sports, ‘80s hip-hop, and being effortlessly pretty. There are some shoehorned bits about being a mom, but nothing feels updated to meet where she is now as a person or performer. She’s not even the most interesting woman in the film. Not while Glenn Close is here with a shotgun and a helix piercing. Emily may be able to fight independently, but she’s still a paper doll with no emotion and an impossible amount of things to juggle. Foxx’s character isn’t much more fleshed out, but at least he’s not bogged down by extraneous and melodramatic maternal woes.

Despite reuniting them, Back In Action has nothing new to give its movie stars. It’s not enough that they’re “back” in more of the same material seen in Charlie’s Angels, Knight And Day, or White House Down. They deserve material that considers all that has come before and builds upon it. Diaz doesn’t necessarily need her Substance moment; the action genre can be an excellent place for cinematic returns. But she deserves material that meets her. Back In Action’s greatest strength is as a reminder that we can never return; we can only move forward.

Director: Seth Gordon
Writer: Seth Gordon, Brendan O’Brien
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, Kyle Chandler, Glenn Close
Release Date: January 17, 2025 (Netflix)