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STARRING JAMIE FOXX, DOUG HUTCHISON, DAVID MORSE, MIKE EPPS, JAMIE KENNEDY, ROBERT PASTORELLI, KIMBERLY ELISE, DAVID PAYMER, TIA TEXADA DIRECTED BY ANTOINE FUQUA

BUZZ-O-METER 4

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? Foxx adds action to his resume.

He's done lowbrow comedy (1997's Booty Call) and highbrow drama (showing startling depth in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday), but does Foxx have the chops to become a Will Smith-size action hero? ''Actually, I'm not planning on becoming an action star,'' answers the former In Living Color comic. ''I'm keeping my day job in comedy. I'm just doing a bit of moonlighting.'' In this latest bit, filmed last winter in New York and Toronto, Foxx is a petty thief who gets tangled up in a sting operation to recover $40 million in stolen gold. ''A thriller with some comedy sprinkled on top'' is how he describes it. ''Sort of like 48 HRS. meets Enemy of the State. It's got more dialogue than I'm used to, but it's also got a lot more action.'' With a budget under $40 million, though, don't expect Will Smith-size pyrotechnics. ''No airplane crashes or anything,'' says Fuqua, who got maximum mayhem for minimal bucks in 1998's The Replacement Killers. ''But we do have car chases, trucks, even horses. And I made Jamie do a lot of running. I made him run all over Toronto. Usually in the freezing cold. And I never let him wear a jacket.'' (Aug. 11)


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Posted Apr 28, 2000 | Published in issue #537-538 Apr 28, 2000 | Order Article Reprints