Back in Action | 2025
It's been over a decade since Cameron Diaz starred in a major motion picture. Once a big screen staple from the late 90s through the mid-2010s, Diaz retired from acting to focus on her family and her new wine label venture, officially launched in 2020. Now she's back in Netflix's new action comedy, Back in Action.
There's a bit of cheeky wordplay in its title. It is, of course, a description of the plot, in which two retired spies (Diaz and Jamie Foxx) return to duty after their domestic bliss is rocked by the return of a figure from the past who arrives to settle unfinished business. It can also be read as a reference to Diaz, a popular actress back in action after a long hiatus. It is indeed a welcome return, but Back in Action is a limp comeback vehicle that coasts on tired clichés cribbed from better films. It's a bit like Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets Blockers, in which the primary impetus for the couple emerging from retirement is keeping their underage daughter from attending a nightclub. Once they're swept up in the action, the family goes on the run to ensure a powerful weapon doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Diaz and Foxx make for a fun pair, and Glenn Close makes a welcome addition as Diaz's estranged mother, an MI6 operative with a much younger paramour (Jamie Demetriou). It's a shame, then, that the film feels like it's consistently running on fumes. Spy send-ups are nothing new, of course. Back in Action may even remind viewers of other similarly themed films in Diaz's career, like Knight and Day and Charlie’s Angels. But her new outing doesn't really bring anything new to the table. After such a long absence, seeing Diaz poke more fun at herself might have been fun, but director Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief) focuses more on coloring in the lines than thinking outside the box.
Is it enough to pass the time? Sure. But it's difficult to escape the sneaking suspicion that you've seen everyone involved here do some better variation on what you're watching. Back in Action travels a well-worn road, and without any added spice to update its familiar formula, it feels like a wasted opportunity. As good as it is to see Diaz back in action, the film feels fresh out of ideas.
