User reviews

Now, some people say this is just your standard genuine popcorn movie- and they're right. There is no big surprise, no overly brilliant acting, no twisted story, no well known producer (you all know who I'm talking about..)..

But it's a very well made, nice to see movie. Acting is good. Or better, it's like it should be in any movie. Photography seems sometimes a little bit careless, but it's OK- it does the trick. Directing is well done.

To get to this conclusion, I compared that flick to Last Boy Scout, because it's basically almost the same background. And I have to say: while LBS is supported by the acting of Bruce Willis, this movie is founded on the acting of each actor. They all do well, the evil guy is convincingly evil (flat character maybe, but hey- it's a popcorn flick, don't forget!), the effects are pleasing, the story is neat, and the director does his best to put all of this on the screen so you can enjoy the picture.

What do you want more? A bag of popcorn.

This movie surprised me and turned out to be pretty good. I left the room when they started to watch it but the bits and pieces I caught at the beginning were enough to reel me in. In Bait Jamie Foxx plays an ex-con being used without his knowledge as lure for a dangerous criminal. I thought Jamie Foxx was really funny. All throughout Bait I kept drawing parallels to Will Smith and Enemy of the State(one of the surveillance actors from Enemy of the State actually plays the same role in Bait). Foxx is definitely funnier than Will and that makes the movie as a whole really funny. I don't know how the movie was promoted, but I would actually describe it as a comedy before an action film.

Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx) is a career petty criminal who got caught stealing prawns. U.S. Treasury investigator Edgar Clenteen (David Morse) is working on a case of stolen $42M gold. John Jaster (Robert Pastorelli) double crossed his partner Bristol (Doug Hutchison) and hid the gold. The investigation finds Jaster's fingerprint and it turns out that he's in Rikers for DWI. Before he dies, the sick Jaster tells Alvin to tell his wife that "There's no place like home." and about the Brooklyn zoo. The technically advanced Bristol is using his skills to follow Clenteen in his investigation. The amoral Clenteen secretly plants a tracker/bug in Alvin's jaw, and let a rumor out that he knows where the gold is. They allow Alvin to walk and Clenteen hopes to catch Bristol when he comes after Alvin.

Jamie Foxx is trying so hard to be the smart-mouthed fun guy, and the movie is trying to be a high-energy thriller. Neither one reach their goal. It's just too outlandish. There's too much ridiculous stuff going on. Director Antoine Fuqua is trying hide a mediocre comedy thriller with a lot of attitude. It just tires out the movie. Of the three lead characters, I like none of them. The constant yapping from Foxx is not fun, and Mike Epps is not a good partner for him. They're almost the same character. The duo needs a straight guy. And the action is second rate anyways.

The previews on TV made this movie look like a dumb-guy goofball comedy, and with Jamie Foxx in the lead it was worth seeing just for that.

So when it turned out to be a full-on big time movie with lots of action, great characters (including a host of well done supporting roles), true love, a government conspiracy and some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!

The sophomore feature of visual stylist Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day", "Brooklyn's Finest") rotates around a simple, but pretty brill idea. After a bank heist gone awry when psychotic computer whizz Bristol (Doug Hutchison) executes several guards, heavy-duty specialist Jaster escapes in a truck filled with gold. Soon he is captured, however only after the loot has been hidden. During his stay in prison he confides in Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx), small time crook caught stealing shrimp, sorry, prawns, from a warehouse. Soon after Jaster unfortunately gets a heart attack during interrogation by agent Edgar Clenteen (David Morse), leaving Sanders to be privy to key knowledge. In an attempt to capture the dangerous Bristol, Sanders is unknowingly bugged and released from prison, as live bait...

Fuqua is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing African-American directors out there and here is proof of capabilities, albeit delivery is faulty and jumpy. Much can be attributed to the apparent: Fuqua seems to be a director heavily dependant on source material. Given a good script he will deliver a brilliant movie. However "Bait" possesses only a mediocre one, fraught with lesser plot holes and unfeasible situations. Furthermore Jamie Foxx struggles to capture the role of a talkative Chris Rock wannabee, feeling much better in more dramatic or action-packed sequences, where he excels.

Nonetheless a thrilling ride with some stunningly filmed sequences overflowing with potential and well-thought gimmickry. Just needed some polishing in dialogue and plot to push up the satisfaction level to more acceptable levels.

This is a really interesting movie. It is an action movie with comedy mixed in. Foxx teams up with comedian Epps in this movie to give it a comedic spin. It will keep you wondering whats going to happen to Foxx next. It was a well shot movie, the director used the right colors in this movie(dark blue colors) to give it the right kind of feel. Kimberly Elise also starred in this movie and it is always a pleasure to see her on the big screen. She plays her role well. Even Jamie Kennedy is in this movie. It's worth seeing it you haven't seen it. It's definitely worth having if you are a Jamie Foxx fan. It deserves more credit than it is actually given.

I had no expectations; I'd never heard of Jamie Foxx; all I knew was that the film has some strong character actors in it. I thought it was highly entertaining; it was fun. The plot was different and unpredictable enough to hold my interest. To me, Foxx is an original. David Morse is terrific (true, this is not his finest role). I thought the chases and pyrotechnics contributed to the film and were well done. I didn't expect a lot and I was happily surprised.

Went to see this film on the review by Roger Ebert. It's okay. It plays with the busted gold heist, gives the star a wisecracking urban adorability, and holds the audience interest through the end. It's heavy on the high tech, illegal surveillance angle. I lost count of the number of monitors the feds have as they track the Jamie Foxx character, so I hope they got a good deal at Circuit City.

The movie does a lot with a little. For instance, in the first scene, we see Jamie Foxx and a friend about to rob a seafood warehouse for a couple of thousand dollars. Foxx makes a point to his friend -soon to be a coward- that they aren't hitting a shrimp joint. They're prawns. Foxx gets a lot of mileage from that exchange. Jamie Foxx is quite funny with the faces and the one-liners. However, it means the film is flipping between semi-comedy and murder/thriller styles. That's hard to do.

The suspense of the film is compromised by one thing. The tension of the last half-hour is based on the threat that the mastermind of the gold heist will kill Jamie Foxx's girlfriend and baby. It became clear to me early there was no way she and the baby were going to die, so that punctured the anxiety the movie wanted as a timebomb ticks down to the inevitable explosion.

Finally, the ending of the film is preposterous. You don't see it coming, but when it comes, it's beyond my capacity for belief. Given the fact that the gold heist was busted, it's hard to understand how in the world the film's conclusion could have been arranged when the bank robbers were clearly in a state of confusion and duress. It's an attractive conclusion, shot with an aerial perspective, but it wasn't supported by the facts in evidence. I think Hitchcock or somebody like him said you have to design a film so it's immune to "refrigerator logic". That's when the viewer of the movie gets home, decides to grab a bite, and when he is at the fridge, he thinks about the film, "There's no way that could happen." That's the ending.

Still, it's a good action film, it goes by quickly, it has a few laughs, and the photography is very good. Ebert was right, three stars.

"Bait" doesn't work as an action flick or a comedy or a drama. However, as an action/comedy/drama is makes for a somewhat enjoyable watch. Starring Jamie Foxx in the title role (the bait), the flick is shot like an action film, acted like a drama, with the comedy coming from Foxx who does what he does best playing a fast talking, street wise, bungling hero of sorts. A total no brainer for the younger audiences.

Somewhat funny and well-paced action thriller that has Jamie Foxx as a hapless, fast-talking hoodlum who is chosen by an overly demanding U.S. Treasury Agent (David Morse) to be released on the streets of New York to find a picky computer thief/hacker (Doug Hutchinson), who stole forty-two million dollars from the treasury and left two guards shot dead.

"Bait" marks the sophomore feature for Antoine Fuqua ("The Replacement Killers") and he handles the task fairly well even though it doesn't top his first movie. What the two films have in common is the action sequences, which are flat-out excellent.

Foxx is pretty good here although his character is annoying in the beginning, but throughout the film, I began to catch on. Hutchinson is marvelous as the mastermind who can be ruthless as John Malkovich and patient as the late Laurence Olivier was in "Marathon Man". Morse is okay as the agent who comes up with the ingenious plan to get whoever did it at all cost.

The Good: Much like a train wreck, you can't help but watch. I'll admit that I was entertained. I wanted to know what happened to the gold. Everything else is predictable: the bad guy, the smug tough guy federal agent, the helpless girlfriend and the hostage baby.

The Bad: Didn't we see something like this before? "Enemy of the State," perhaps?

The Ugly: (1) Stock footage of New York to make it seem like its NYC when all the while 95% of this thing is Canadian. (2)The John Malkovich-like clone of a bad guy. (3)The non-stop Jamie Foxx schtick. I mean he's a funny guy, but it gets tiresome in EVERY scene.

CONCLUSION: No one should own this movie. Don't buy the DVD. Don't even bother renting this turkey. It is not worth the rental fee. Check out the public library, I'm sure you can borrow it from there.

"Bait" is the type of film that makes you say "Wow!!!! I enjoyed this film."

There are several things I enjoyed about "Bait." The first thing was the villainous character played by Doug Hutchison. His character is the second villain since Will Patton's Gen. Bethlahem in "The Postman" that was not only excellently played but done so with such brilliance.

The second thing I enjoyed was the fact that the script seemed to be so unique in what was being played out on screen. When I go to movies I look for originality and that is what I found with "Bait." Furthermore, it was not just action nor was it a comedy but it was I was so glad to see David Morse back on the screen after his captivating performance in "The Green Mile."

Finally, I enjoyed how "Bait" never let up from the beginning to the end. Also, each cast member brings something special to "Bait," which makes it much more dramatic and funny film.

"Bait" is a film that will appeal to everyone young and old and for those who like dramatic scenes as well as comedic scenes. I give this film two thumbs up.

I happened across "Bait" on cable one night just as it started and thought, "Eh, why not?" I'm glad I gave it a chance.

"Bait" ain't perfect. It suffers from unnecessarily flashy direction and occasional dumbness. But overall, this movie worked. All the elements aligned just right, and they pulled off what otherwise could have been a pretty ugly film.

Most of that, I think, is due to Jamie Foxx. I don't know who tagged Foxx for the lead, but whoever it was did this movie a big favor. Believable and amazingly likeable, Foxx glides through the movie, smooth as butter and funnier than hell. You can tell he's working on instinct, and instinct doesn't fail him.

The plot, while unimportant, actually ties together pretty well, and there's even a character arc through which Foxx's character grows as a person. Again, they could've slipped by without any of this, but it just makes things that much better.

I'm surprised at the low rating for this. Maybe I just caught this move on the right night, or vice versa, but I'd give it a 7/10. Bravo, Mssr. Foxx.

If you know NYC you will recognize a lot of the landmarks. The film came out a year before 9/11 and the WTC is prominently shown throughout.

...that Jamie Foxx would ever deliver such a wonderful, Oscar-winning performance. One of the reasons why I was so impressed with Foxx's performance in "Ray" was because from watching his hammy, obnoxious acting in movies like "Bait" and "Booty Call," I would never imagine he would ever hold the Oscar. If people told me five years ago that Jamie Foxx was one day going to win an Oscar, I would laugh right in their faces. Who knows? Maybe he's better off sticking to drama, because if you watch "Bait," it's clearly evident that comedy is not his forte. I swear, Jamie mugs so much in this movie that I'm surprised his face didn't fall off. And why does he have to do those stupid voices at every chance he gets? Anyone familiar with comedians like Bob Newhart and Steven Wright knows that doing comedy doesn't require being loud and obnoxious. If a joke is funny, it's funny. If it's not funny, then doing some crazy accent is not going to make it any funnier. The problem I have with some comedians who decide to try acting is that they favor getting laughs over being in character. In real life, normal people don't always have witty comebacks and quips. Like Albert Brooks said in an interview discussing his character in "Taxi Driver," it's important to be funny as your character, rather than be funny as a comedian. A prime example of Jamie violating that rule is the nauseatingly awful scene where his mug shots are being taken, and he starts posing for the photographs like a model. If a regular person were being thrown in jail, would he really be acting goofy while having his mug shots taken? And wouldn't the police try to scold him if he was? There are many scenes like that throughout the film. Another awful sequence is one where Jamie is on the unwittingly on the phone with the villain, and he starts doing a phony Caribbean accent. Not funny! Not to mention Jamie never seems to acknowledge the timing of a joke. Giving a comedic performance requires patience, whereas he goes straight to the punchline, whether it's the right time for it or not. I'm not even a big Mike Epps fan, but even his performance is good in comparison to Jamie's. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I felt somewhat relieved whenever he would appear on screen. Epps has the same flaws when it comes to comedy, but at least he chooses a more low-key approach. One of the few bright spots in this clunker of a comedy is David Morse, a highly underrated actor mostly known for his supporting roles as villains. He seems to be the only actor in the film concerned with grounding it in reality. However, fellow "Green Mile" star Doug Hutchison is disgustingly over-the-top as the villain. A big surprise, considering he gave a superb performance in "The Green Mile," also playing a heavy. Antoine Fuqua has proved his directing chops in movies like "The Replacement Killers" and "Training Day." Even in "Bait," he shows he can direct a hell of an action sequence. His only problem seemed to be in disciplining Jamie Foxx, who probably improvised half the script with one bad joke after another. Unless you're a die-hard fan of Foxx, please don't take the bait.

The plot is fair here and the acting is also fair. But the comedy is good. Jamie Foxx can deliver in any circumstance whether it is a action comedy, football drama, or even a booty call, he call give a good performance. He plays Alvin Sanders (Foxx), a prawn theif who gets some info on a gold robber from a bunk mate in jail. Some time later, the feds want to catch the gold thief (Doug Hutchinson plays this villain better than the villain in The Green Mile) so they plant a transmittor in Sanders hoping to snif out the guy, but then, Sanders turns out to be a lot different then the feds though. Part Enemy of the State because whenever Sanders has the bug on him, you have that thought in the back of your head telling you that no matter what Sanders is in, he is being heard by the feds. But also part comedy because Foxx can bring laughs up just by having a conversation with his criminal brother (Mike Epps). Somewhat ludicrous ending, but it doesn't matter in a film like this. Overall, B (for some flaws).

Jamie Foxx is one of those few comic actors who has a certain charm that makes just about anything he does decent. In fact, he's the only thing that really holds together Bait, which at best, seems like a direct-to-video that only made it to the screen due to Foxx.

Foxx stars as Alvin Anderson, an unsuccessful small-time con man who gets jailed for an absurd crime and is chosen to be equipped with an experimental tracking device. He's then used as bait to bring down gold heister Hutchinson.

While Bait appears to have been meant as a star vehicle for Foxx, it makes little use of the actor's comedic charm and instead chooses to spend too much time on its dumb, meandering plot. None of the characters feel genuine, cliches abound, including an all-too-familiar digital readout from a time bomb, a team of government officials wearing headsets and clicking away at computers, who end up look more like Time Life Book operators than agents, and a hard-assed, humorless cop bent on just capturing the criminal. Then there's Hutchinson's cool, deadpan delivery as the computer mastermind who resembles John Malkovich not only in appearance but in menace, feeling like he was lifted right out of In The Line Of Fire. None of these things offer innovation and make the movie pretty stale.

Jamie Foxx's character is the only worthwhile reason to sit through this pedestrian action/comedy effort. He's fun, sexy, has a likeable air around him, and generally gives good comedic delivery. If you don't like his character at the beginning, give it time. Once gets over on the cops in one standout scene, you will. Jamie Foxx is a star just waiting to be made, if only he could be blessed with a good script. Bait makes little use of his talent, but it would be nothing without him.

5 out of 10

This film resembles in many ways `Enemy of the State' with Will Smith and Gene Hackman, as we have an innocent (black) man being pursued by the `government' with all the modern technology known to man. Usually when storyline is copied like this the result is a disaster. That does not apply here. Of course I love everything David Morse does, so maybe my comments are not fair, but there were more good things about this film then that. The main baddy, played by Doug Hutchison, was brilliant, and the story flowed with excellent extras such as David Paymer and Robert Pastorelli. Our hero, Alvin Sanders (played by Jamie Foxx), was however irritating most of the part. He is so out of place, cracking bad jokes, evoking no sympathy from the audience. Or not to begin with, the strange thing is that he kinda grows on you (and on his followers as well!). I didn't expect much when I rented it, but was surprised with a good solid action movie with comedy bits. 7/10

Ah, Bait. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. 1. You try to be funny, but are corny and unenjoyable; every joke is predictable and expected, and when it comes, does not inspire laughter. Instead, I want to hurl. 2. You try to be dramatic, but are unbelievable; the woman overacts to a terrible degree, and the "bad guy" looks like Bill Gates, and is about as scary as...well, Bill Gates. (Just try to imagine Bill Gates trying to intimidate somebody with a gun. Doesn't work, does it? A lawyer, maybe, but not a gun. Doesn't fit.) As for Jamie Foxx, well, just watching him try to deliver a dramatic and heartfelt dialogue is ludicrous, and makes me want to hurl. 3. You try to be action-packed, but instead are dull and dragging too many times. And when the action heats up, the tripod for the camera must have been lost, for the scenes wobble more than those in The Blair Witch Project, and I find myself nauseated, and once again I want to hurl. 4. You try to be a good movie, but you failed, you FAILED, YOU FAILED! I would rather walk barefoot across the Sahara with a pack full of beef jerky and no water, no sunscreen, and only Meryl Streep for company. This hell would be lovelier than a single minute more spent watching everyone in Bait overact their way through an idiotically written story with Bill Gates for a bad guy, and let's not even talk about the massive bomb that goes off in a car that Jamie Foxx's character has just driven OFF A CLIFF, but somehow manages to escape...just kill me now, or do the right thing and promise me that somehow I'll never have to watch a movie that is this bad, ever again.

I really liked this movie. Of course the idea is pretty much out there...the federal government arranging to have a tracking device implanted into the jaw of an small-time thief to lure a more dangerous thief/computer hacker out of hiding. But Alvin Sanders, the man who the feds have "volunteered" to be implanted with the device, is a very likable person and it turns out to be a lot of fun getting in his head with him for a little while. Alvin even eventually proves himself to be much more than a good-humored but passive or one-dimensional character when he shows that he is not nearly as easily manipulated as he may seem. Definetly worth a watch.

Too full of dramatic troubles and problems. Not a good movie but not a bad one either since it keeps you entertained for the whole time of the casting. The small-time thief Alvin Sanders gets himself in a lot of troubles and vexations since the time on which he gets himself jailed for stealing some prawns from a restaurant and is put in a cell with John Jaster a high-tech criminal thief whose team had stolen $42.000.000 of gold from the Federal Reserve. Since Jaster had a bad heart condition and is afraid to die he uses Alvin to find the whereabouts of the gold that is hidden somewhere. This puts Alvin into a lot of troubles and fights even violent.. This keeps you arrentive and entertained through the whole movie time.

Jamie Foxx is fun but this movie has been done before. The bad guy plays a "malkovichian" character from "In the Line of Fire". The cops will do anything to find the bad guy - and of course the good guy has two sets of bad guys and one set of cops after him - all the while he is just trying to turn over a new leaf...