seymourblack-1 There are plenty of laughs in this crime thriller about a small-time thief who's given a clue to the location of a huge amount of stolen gold. The information he holds leads to him (unknowingly) being followed by both the Feds and the criminal who masterminded the gold robbery. The problem is, he's in no position to profit from the knowledge he has because he doesn't know what the clue means.Two robberies from different ends of the criminal spectrum are carried out at the same time and Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx) who'd been arrested for his part in the theft of a consignment of prawns, finds himself sharing a prison cell with John Jaster (Robert Pastorelli) who'd been involved in the theft of $42 million worth of gold from the Federal Reserve. Jaster, a man with a serious heart condition, fears that he may not live long enough to get out of prison and so gives Alvin a cryptic message to pass on to his wife. The message which refers to "The Bronx Zoo" and "There's no place like home", means nothing to Alvin and so he gives it no further thought.The gold robbery had been meticulously planned by Bristol (Doug Hutchison) but during the heist, when he needlessly killed two security guards in execution-style shootings, Jaster was so appalled that he deserted his partner and drove off in the getaway vehicle and hid the gold. After being incarcerated, Jaster is questioned by tough U.S. Treasury Agent Edgar Clenteen (David Morse) but suffers a heart attack during the interrogation and dies. This leaves the ruthless Clenteen with nothing to go on and so he decides to manipulate Alvin's early release from prison so that he can put him out on the street and make it generally known that Alvin knows where the gold is. In order to do this, Clenteen illegally arranges for a tracking device to be implanted in Alvin's jaw.The tracking device enables the agents at a control centre to monitor Alvin's precise location at all times and also to listen in to his conversations. This, Clenteen believes, will bring Bristol out into the open and eventually lead to the recovery of the stolen gold."Bait" is an entertaining mixture of action and comedy that includes some well choreographed car chases and stunts. The two dominant colours used are dark-blue and black and they complement the prevailing atmosphere perfectly. Jamie Foxx is brilliant as the hyperactive and apparently not-very-bright Alvin whose personal life and talent for getting into trouble cause problems for both him and the Feds and David Morse makes a big impression as the totally humourless Clenteen. Doug Hutchison is suitably creepy as the soft-spoken psychopathic computer genius whose ability to hack government networks, makes him an on-going threat to the authorities.There's nothing particularly original in "Bait" but what makes it so enjoyable is Jamie Foxx, some crazy over-the-top moments (like the stunt at the end of the movie) and the skillful way in which the violence and the humour are balanced so effectively.

whpratt1 If you like Jamie Foxx,(Alvin Sanders),"Date From Hell",'01, you will love his acting as a guy who never gets an even break in life and winds up messing around with Shrimp, (Jumbo Size) and at the same time lots of gold bars. Alvin Sanders has plenty of FBI eyes watching him and winds up getting hit by a brick in the jaw, and David Morse,(Edgar Clenteen), "Hack" '02 TV Series, decides to zero in on poor Alvin and use him as a so called Fish Hook to attract the criminals. There is lots of laughs, drama, cold blood killings and excellent film locations and plenty of expensive cars being sent to the Junk Yard. Jamie Foxx and David Morse were outstanding actors in this film and it was great entertainment through out the entire picture.

Andy (film-critic) 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 likable 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 proved 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)

ray-280 I tuned into "Bait" one night on cable when I had nothing better to do, and was quite glad I did. Some have called this film a poor impersonation of "Enemy of the State," but the cast from this movie is actually superior to that cast.Jamie Foxx plays Alvin Sanders, a typical New York City hustler type who runs afoul of the law without being violent. His main game is to steal large quantities of prawns (expensive shrimp) and sell them on the black market. He winds up busted by a guard dog and sent to prison, and that's where his troubles begin.Alvin's cellmate turns out to be "Jasper," who dies of a heart attack during questioning about the heist of $42 million in gold from the US Treasury, in which a Treasury agent is murdered (otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to the trouble to catch him). Before he dies, Jasper confides in Alvin (in code) where the gold is, and the T-men realize that he can be used as "bait" to flush out the superhacker who thinks that he knows where the gold is.Alvin is clueless as to what's going on, but slowly comes to realize during the film that the killer wants him dead, and the government doesn't care if he dies in order for them to catch the Killer. To that extent, the movie uses the formula that "The Firm" did so well years earlier. Foxx's comedic talents greatly enhance his performance, and show once again (as John Candy did in "Cool Runnings") that the proper use for a comedian in a major motion picture is to use his talent to add depth to a dramatic role.Jamie Foxx has won an Oscar for "Ray" since this movie came out, and is now on the A-list. David Morse went on to star in "Hack" on television and has impressive credentials all his own. The supporting cast is solid and you'll recognize most of them from their other work (such as Robert Pastorelli of Murphy Brown playing Jasper, or David Paymer, who also was good in "Joe And Max" on Showtime).When a "bad" movie takes itself too seriously, and pretends it's a good movie, it can be insufferable. Fortunately for the viewer, this movie takes itself seriously because it really is a good movie, well-acted, and with a cast that makes the most out of what it was given. Sure, the movie could have been better, but not by as much as one might think if they haven't seen it.The only thing I didn't like about the movie was Kimberly Elise as the stereotypical "together" single black mother who looks down on the very type of man she rushed into bed with to have her child.