''Bait'' is a 2000 American

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

starring

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. Known for his work in both the screen and music industries, his accolades include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award ...

and David Morse. It was directed by

Antoine Fuqua Antoine Fuqua (; born May 30, 1965) is an American film director known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with '' The Replacement Killers''. His ...

. The film was a huge financial failure, costing

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

$51 million but only grossing approximately $15 million. In the film, a petty thief shares a prison cell with a man who stole millions in gold from the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

. The robber dies of natural causes, leaving behind a cryptic message concerning the location of his loot. The authorities decide to release his cellmate, to use him as bait against the deceased's dangerous former partner. The partner blackmails the thief to take him to the hidden gold, holding the thief's girlfriend as a

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

Plot

When fast talking, petty thief and hustler Alvin Sanders gets arrested for stealing prawns, the worst of his problems would seem to be going to jail. Unfortunately, he ends up sharing a cell with John Delano Jaster, who, while stealing $42 million in gold from the Federal Reserve, double-crossed his partner, Bristol, after Bristol murdered two bound and gagged guards during the gold heist. Bristol, who is the mastermind of the heist, is shown to be a dangerous man, with a knack for computers, a long memory, and who will go to any lengths to find where Jaster hid the gold, including killing others. While being interrogated by hardball Treasury Agent Edgar Clenteen, the double-crosser dies from heart failure. All the feds have are an incomprehensible message that Jaster gave to Alvin to deliver to his wife, who is dead unbeknownst to him, having been killed by Bristol ("Tell her she should go to the Bronx Zoo. Tell her ' There's no place like home'."), so they decide to release him and use him as bait to catch Bristol by secretly implanting a combination tracking device and electronic bug into Alvin's jaw. From that moment on, a surveillance team can follow Alvin's every move and hear his every word. Unfortunately, Alvin has a talent for getting into trouble, especially with his criminal younger brother Stevie —which means that the feds have to become his guardian angels so that he can serve his purpose. Sure enough, Bristol is hot on Alvin’s trail, using his computer expertise to discover that Alvin was jailed alongside Jaster and managing to gain more information from him through a phony telephone call. Alvin soon becomes suspicious of the many situations that have occurred since he has been released from prison, especially when he encounters Bristol face to face, yet eventually Bristol kidnaps Alvin while evading the authorities, causing an explosion from a bomb attached to a bound and gagged agent Wooly. After interrogating Alvin, Bristol forces Alvin to lead him to the gold supposedly hidden at the horse track in Manhattan, while holding his girlfriend Lisa and baby hostage. Alvin manages to eventually escape and fight off Bristol and free Lisa before a bomb set in the van they’re in explodes. Alvin manages to hot wire the van, drive it and jump out just in time before the bomb explodes. Bristol catches up to Alvin and points a gun at him, yet Clenteen shoots him multiple times, saving Alvin. A grateful Alvin punches Clenteen due to earlier treatment while in jail, yet Clenteen, not upset by it, admits he had it coming. While discussing with Lisa concerning their son Gregory at her bookstore, Alvin meets a customer asking for the book, " The Bronx Zoo", which leads him to understand Jaster's message; the gold is buried under "home" plate at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

. He then calls Clenteen to discuss a reward for the recovery of the stolen gold, which after some confusion turns out to be five percent of its value; two million dollars.

Cast

Production

In May 1999, it was announced

would star in the action-comedy ''Bait'' under the direction of Stephen Surjik who was eventually replaced by

. The film was co-produced by

Castle Rock Entertainment Castle Rock Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick (September 8, 1947 – February 27, 2025) and Alan Horn. Histo ...

with

distributing. Prior to casting David Morse as Edgar Clenteen, the role had originally been slated to be played by

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

. It was filmed in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 26%, based on reviews from 82 critics. The website's consensus reads, "Even though Jamie Foxx shines in Bait, the movie suffers from music video roots and a formulaic script that strains credibility." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a score of 39 out of 100, based on reviews from 28 critics.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave it 3 out of 4 stars and wrote that "it's over the top, an exercise in action comedy that cuts loose from logic and enjoys itself." Later Director Antoine Fuqua said: "''Bait'' was one of those movies that's not me. As a director in the beginning you're still trying to find what your passion is. You don't always necessarily get to do what you're passionate about, and I was always impatient with waiting around." - said Fuqua. "It wasn't like the stuff I was passionate about was coming across my desk, and it was a chance to work with Jamie. And I thought, well, maybe I do have a little bit of humor in me. But I don't! It didn't work out for me." He concludes by: "I kind of did it as an exercise. It was fine, and I got to work with Jamie, and Jamie turned out to be a major star, which is great because I knew he would be back then by just spending time with him. "

Box office

The film opened at #2 at the North American box office making $5,485,591

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

in its opening weekend, behind '' The Watcher''. ''Bait'' ultimately failed to bring back its $51 million budget, as it grossed only $15 million worldwide.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released on September 12, 2000 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

featuring rap and R&B music from artists such as Mya,

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He met record producer Eddie F in the mid-1990s and signed with his record label Untouchables Entertainment, beginning his car ...

Cuban Link Felix Delgado (born December 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Cuban Link, is a Cuban-American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discovery by fellow Bronx rapper Fat Joe and m ...

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

and many other artists. The soundtrack reached No. 49 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bait (Film) 2000 films 2000 action comedy films 2000s chase films 2000 crime comedy films 2000 action thriller films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films American action comedy films American crime comedy films American action thriller films American crime action films American crime thriller films African-American films Castle Rock Entertainment films Warner Bros. films Films directed by Antoine Fuqua Films about security and surveillance Films scored by Mark Mancina Films set in New York City Films set in Ontario Films shot in New York City Films shot in Ontario Films with screenplays by Tony Gilroy Techno-thriller films Canadian action comedy films English-language Canadian films Canadian crime comedy films Canadian action thriller films Canadian crime action films Films about treasure hunting Films about hostage taking English-language crime comedy films English-language action comedy films English-language action thriller films