CHARLIE’S Angels star Cameron Diaz has come out of retirement to make her first movie in 11 years.
A hugely underrated actress in her prime, it’s sad to see that it has taken such utterly mind-numbing fare as Back in Action to mark her return after a decade out of the limelight.
Now streaming on Netflix, this action comedy directed by Seth Gordon is painful to sit through. International espionage hasn’t looked so grim since Johnny Depp’s twirly moustache in Mortdecai.
Back in Action is easily one of the worst films I have seen in quite a while, maybe ever, and way beneath Diaz’s talent and alluring appeal which lit up the screen back in the day in films such as There’s Something About Mary, Being John Malkovich, and My Best Friend’s Wedding.
This sorry excuse for revelry comes off like a bargain bin remake of Mr & Mrs Smith with a Spy Kids twist that is awfully hard to stomach. And don’t be fooled by its impressive cast either.
Back in Action also sees Jamie Foxx, Andrew Scott, and Glenn Close parade around foolishly in this shameless pantomime fiasco. There’s absolutely no shining this turd and presenting it to the world as anything other than a steaming pile of feculence. There’s nothing redeemable here or even hinting at depth in this train-wreck of a comeback vehicle.
The script is pure drivel. There isn’t an ounce of originality, and the acting is so ghastly that I didn’t know where to look half the time. I was absolutely scarlet, and Cameron’s woeful supporting cast might want to consider joining her in hibernation for the next decade or more.
Glenn Close still thinks she’s playing Cruella de Vil, while Andrew Scott wins the prize for worst British accent in a film since Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. As for Jamie Foxx, well, he was on autopilot throughout, and manifested about as much sincerity and charisma as the Healy-Raes.
This is lazy, shallow, cheerless, and agonising from beginning to end. I will never get these hellish two hours back.
(1/5)
