Jamie Foxx takes the lead in the action comedy Bait, a movie that neither fails to live up to expectations, but doesn't really exceed them, either. It falls victim to the ever so common "we've seen this movie before" formula before, although it does do the smart thing and go with an R rating, which means R content.

Bait combines a relatively serious storyline and a sinister villain with a comical lead character who has been arrested for stealing prawns, and who has an IQ of about 5. This is either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, Bait stays away from an overly cheesy layout, but on the other hand, it can't really decide what it wants to be, and part of me is saying that Bait might have been better as a more serious action movie (but then of course it would be hauntingly similar to Enemy of the State).

Foxx does a good enough job to deserve the lead role, although at times his character is a little too stupid to take. There are not that many truly stupid people in the world, but he makes it seem normal, and that's not a good thing. Also starring is David Morse, who is a very good actor, but who is reduced to a stereotypical nasty lawman that suddenly becomes very nice at the end of the movie. His character really isn't that interesting to watch.

The real bright star in the movie is Doug Hutchinson, who is the killer/burglar. He really is psychotic in the movie, and reminded me a lot of John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire, which is definitely a good thing.

Bait has a couple of decent action scenes, but really, the movie isn't about action. It is about a suspenseful storyline that is decent enough, and has some good comedy. The combination makes for enough entertainment to satisfy me for two hours.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.