It’s been about 10 years since Cameron Diaz has been in a movie. Seeing her in this is a reminder of how she’s so great in these kind of action comedy movies. I had just watched Knight and Day again for the millionth time, so I was hopeful that maybe a movie with both Diaz and Jamie Foxx might be decent despite being a January movie on Netflix. I should have known better.
Matt (Foxx) and Emily (Diaz) are spies, whose regular working relationship has become more intimate and romantic. As their latest operation winds down and they head home, they’re ambushed on the plane, which leads to a spectacular crash. The crash looks horrible by the way – the budget wasn’t extravagant enough for believable CGI. Matt and Emily use the crash as a way to get out of the spy life and lead civilian lives. 15 years later, the CIA and the bad guys discover they’re alive when they end up going viral online. But now that they’re married with two children, the spy life is more complicated, and they’re forced to go on the run with their children in tow.
The movie’s only watchable to some extent due to the easy charisma of Diaz and Foxx. They’re somewhat believable as a married couple, and while the screenplay does next to no work to establish their connection, it’s fun to watch Diaz and Foxx muddle through various shenanigans. And even though Andrew Scott is basically sleepwalking through this film, it’s great to see the moments of levity between him and Foxx. Jamie Demetriou’s Nigel is a young, bumbling MI6 wannabe, and his awkward interactions with Diaz and Foxx, as well as his sensual commitment to Glenn Close’s Ginny is hilarious stuff, and helps alleviate the absolute dullness that is most of this film.
The biggest misstep is making Matt and Emily’s daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts) so unlikeable. The antagonism between Alice and Emily is purposeful, but it’s done in a way that feels so contrived. This whole concept had better execution in The Family Switch, also a not-so-great Netflix movie but at least the familial relationships felt real instead of artificial. How can Alice somehow justify that her using a fake ID to enter a club is okay? So her frustrations when her parents show up to bring her home just don’t make sense.
Their son Leo (Rylan Jackson) isn’t as annoying, but he doesn’t have much personality beyond being obsessed with his video games and various devices. Considering how big a part the children play in the film, their characterisation is severely lacking, and unlike Diaz and Foxx, these young actors aren’t able to overcome their paper-thin characters, so we’re left with a film that doesn’t accomplish much but be background noise while you do your housework.
REVIEW SCORE: 1.5/5
