Actor Spotlight: Jamie Foxx

The multi-hyphenate star has a new Netflix movie out today

Aug 14, 2020

Undoubtedly one of our most charismatic and versatile movie stars, Jamie Foxx has been able to slide comfortably into many lanes throughout his career. It doesn’t matter if that lane is comedy, music, Oscar-winning dramas, or action flicks, the man has proven he can pretty much do it all.

With the release of his new Netflix movie Project Power today, we took a quick look at a couple of our favorite Jamie Foxx performances to remind you of how immensely talented this guy has always been.

Billy recommends…

Django Unchained (streaming on Netflix)

Normally when Will Smith is supposed to be involved and then has to back out before shooting starts it means the movie could be headed down a bad path. This time it surprisingly meant that we were given a more meaningful performance for the character of Django, played brilliantly by Jamie Foxx.

Jamie Foxx has the acting cred to be in a Quentin Tarantino movie, but more importantly he has the suave attitude and personality that Tarantino is drawn too. Foxx plays Django, a slave who has teamed up with the bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), and Schultz is hunting down the 3 brothers that sold Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). If these characters were separate for much of the movie this may not have worked all that well. Together we get a dynamic force that brings out the heights of every emotion the audience feels. When they are happy we are elated. When they are sad we are as well. And when they are in danger we are on the edge of our seat praying they make it out.

Foxx softens the abrasiveness of the dialogue of this movie because he has such a strong presence. Tarantino is always abrasive and vulgar, but that is normally through visual themes. An easier route to attract an audience. In Django Unchained the dialogue needed to be harsh because of the time it is set in, and the dialogue works because our lead character, a slave, is our strongest character in every facet. Tarantino used Foxx to create a sensitivity to this story, a trait that he doesn’t normally have.

Django Unchained is great for so many reasons: The directing, writing, music, and so much more. The aspect that seems to get lost in the shuffle is Jamie Foxx. Without his portrayal this could have been Tarantino’s ultimate miss. Instead, we got an incredibly entertaining movie that rewrites history while openly embracing the important dialogue that comes with a movie like this. Give this one a watch. It deserves it.

Drew recommends…

Horrible Bosses (streaming on HBO)

Although his screen time is limited, I don’t know if Jamie Foxx has ever been funnier than he is in Horrible Bosses. The makers of this R-rated comedy had the golden notion to cast Foxx as Dean “MF” Jones (you probably know what the “MF” stands for), a cold-blooded ex-con that gives the three main characters the idea that will drive the movie.

The absurd (not to mention really dark) premise of Horrible Bosses is that Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) hate their miserable bosses so much that they decide to kill them. To get some help, they go to “MF” Jones as their “murder consultant,” who has the brilliant idea that they should kill each other’s bosses so it will be harder to trace the crimes back to the source.

In the few scenes that he appears in, Foxx nails his part as the criminal that is trying a little too hard. His negotiating style is terribly ineffective and later the trio find out that he isn’t the hardened ex-con they assume him to be.

Horrible Bosses is a mostly ridiculous but hysterical comedy that boasts a big-name supporting cast with Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, and Kevin Spacey. However, it’s Foxx that ends up memorably stealing each scene that he’s in.

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