Bait (2000)

When petty thief and hustler Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx from Any Given Sunday and The Wood) gets arrested for stealing shrimp, the worst of his problems would seem to be going to jail. Unfortunately, he ends up sharing a cell with a guy who, while stealing $42 million in gold from the Federal Reserve, double-crossed his partner--a partner with a knack for computers and a long memory. While being interrogated by a hardball Treasury agent (David Morse from The Green Mile), the double-crosser dies from heart failure. All the feds have are an incomprehensible message that was left with Alvin, so they decide to release him and use him as bait to catch the partner by secretly implanting a combination tracking device and electronic bug into Alvin's jaw. From that moment on, a surveillance team can follow Alvin's every move and hear his every word. Unfortunately, Alvin has a talent for getting into trouble--which means that the feds have to become his guardian angels so that he can serve his purpose. Bait certainly has its problems (there's a lot of fancy editing for no good reason, a few plot holes you could drive a truck through, and the actor playing the bad guy really wishes he was John Malkovich)--but even though it's nonsense, it's not predictable. The clever story moves along with surprising efficiency and has some successful comic bits. The characters can't be called well developed, but they aren't clichés; the movie doesn't require any great acting, but the cast is consistently engaging. In fact, Bait is one of the more enjoyable action movies of the past few years. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Bait

My first introduction to Bait (2000) was on cable while visiting my parents. The movie had already begun. I came in on David Morse's character (Edgar Clenteen) violently grilling Robert Pastorelli. What follows is a Jamie Foxx solo comedy routine that kept me invested in the rest of the film until its resolution. Alvin, Jamie Foxx character shows a little compassion toward Robert Pastorelli while Edgar Clenteen (Morse) tunes him up for the upcoming interrogation. The bravado, however misguided on Alvin's part, directed toward Clenteen in support of Pastorelli and the ensuing jostling between Clenteen and Alvin had me in hysterics. Add to this Mike Epps role as Alvin's "something like a pimp" brother and this becomes an enjoyable roller coaster ride.

When I finally read up and watched the whole movie I wanted a copy for myself. I could not find it in the neighborhood. An outstanding cast, great direction and a story that works on many levels for me becomes a welcome addition to a modest collection where I have titles that I view repeatedly.

Bait is a movie that I enjoy every time I watch it and I watch it often.

Enjoy. April 6, 2008

Listen guys, do I have to be around for this?

Are you familiar with concept of children's artwork? While it is not the greatest Picasso any three-year-old has ever accomplished with their fingers, you encourage them to do more. If painting is what makes them happy, there should be no reason a parent should hold that back on a child. Typically, if a child loves to paint or draw, you will immediately see the groundwork of their future style. You will begin to see their true form in these very primitive doodles. Well, this concept of children's artwork is how I felt about Fuqua's depressingly cheap and uncreative film Bait. While on all accounts it was a horrid film, it was impressive to see Fuqua's style begin emerging through even the messiest of moments. If you have seen either Training Day or King Arthur, you will be impressed with the birth of this director in his second film Bait. While Foxx gives a horrid, unchained performance, there are certain scenes, which define Fuqua and demonstrate his brilliance behind the camera. Sadly it only emerged in the final thirty minutes of the film, but if you focus just on those scenes, you will see why Fuqua's name appears on so many "Best Of..." film lists.

I will never disagree with someone that Fuqua's eye behind the camera is refreshing and unique. His ability to place a camera in the strangest of places to convey the simplest of emotions is shocking. I am surprised that more of Hollywood hasn't jumped aboard this bandwagon. Even in the silly feature Bait, you are witness to Fuqua's greatness. Two scenes that come directly to mind are the explosion scene near the middle of the film and the horse scene close to the end. In both of these scenes I saw the director Fuqua at work. Alas, in the rest of this film, all I saw was a combination of nearly every action film created. The likeable hero down on his luck that suddenly finds his life turned around by some unknown force is a classic structure that just needs to die in Hollywood. We have seen this two often, and no matter who you are (unless you are Charlie Kaufmann), you cannot recreate the wheel. It is just impossible with this genre, and it is proven with Bait. I was annoyed with Fuqua for just sitting back and allowing this to happen, which could explain why it took me three viewings to finish this film. I was just tired of the structure, and while I hoped that Fuqua would redefine it, he did not.

Then, there was the acting. While Jamie Foxx has never impressed me as an actor, I was willing to give this helmed vehicle a try. I wanted to see if he could pull off another dramatic role similar to Collateral. I was under the impression that perhaps this was the film chosen to show producers that Foxx could handle the role in Collateral. Again, I was disappointed. Foxx was annoying. Not in the sense that it was the way that his character was to be, but in the sense that it felt as if neither Fuqua nor Foxx took the time to fully train Foxx on what should be ad-libed and what should be used to further the plot. Instead, we are downtrodden with scene over scene of Foxx just trying to make the audience laugh. Adding second long quips and culture statements just to keep his audience understanding that he was a comedian first, an actor second. Fuqua should have stopped this immediately. Foxx's jokes destroyed his character, which in turn left me with nothing solid to grasp ahold of. Instead of character development, he would crack a joke. Neither style worked, no joke was funny. The rest of the cast was average. By this I mean I have seen them all in similar roles. They were brining nothing new to the table, nothing solid to the story, and nothing substantial to the overall themes of the film. They were pawns filling in dead air space. Fuqua had no control over this mess, and the final verdict only supports that accusation.

Overall, this was a sad film. With no creativity in sight and unmanaged actors just trying to upstage themselves, what originally started as a decent story eventually sunk faster into the cinematic quicksand. Foxx was annoying, without character lines, and a complete bag of cheese. In each scene I saw no emotion, and when emotion was needed to convey a message, he chose to take his shirt off rather than tackle the issues. Are my words harsh? I don't think so. When you watch any movie you want to see some creativity, some edible characters, and themes that seem to hit close to home. Bait contained none of these. While I will give Fuqua some credit for two of the scenes in this film, the remaining five hundred were disastrous. Apparently, I took the bait when renting this film, but now having seen it, hopefully I can stop others from taking that curious nibble.

Grade: ** out of ***** (for his two scenes that were fun to watch) September 2, 2005

i liked this movie, i really did!

well i'm just a jamie fox fanatic, that's all. anything that he's in, i'll watch. and this movie had me on the edge of my seat. now there was some times i had to put my DVD player on pause because i did not want to see my Jamie get hurt, but i had to realize this was only a movie (yeah, yeah, i'm silly and trippin! so sue me!) but it was really fun to watch. i just think jamie foxx is so cute! i just love him. great action in this film. and David Morse was great too. i just want more Jamie, that's all. May 9, 2005

I'm glad Oscar voters didn't see this before they voted!

Jamie Foxx deserved his Oscar for "Ray". Had he not been up against Morgan Freeman for "Million Dollar Baby" he may have deserved a second for "Collateral". (Though in comparison to "Ray" his performance there was decidedly second-rate.)I watched "Bait" to see what the other side of Jamie Foxx was like. There could very well be better examples of Foxx's comedic prowess, but this isn't it.

Antoine Fuqua has gotten a bad reputation. "Tears of the Sun" was mediocre at best. "The Replacement Killers" was loud, garish, and over-the-top. That one can be forgiven given its purpose but is unworthy of priase. "Training Day" was uncharacteristically wonderful and it was my first exposure to his work, so I was surprised that he was so reviled. Until now, that is.

"Bait" was shockingly violent. Sure, I've seen much worse, but they were not "action-comedies." Some of the images displayed here are not conducive to laughter. No big loss, there was no laughter to be had in the first place.
April 25, 2005

Not great, but it's decent.

I did not have high expectations for this film. The movie actually was not half bad. It's not great, but it will keep your interest. I think Jamie has the making of a potential action star if he gets a better developed script. May 14, 2004

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