Spoilers beneath for anybody who hasn’t but streamed the brand new characteristic Again in Motion with a Netflix subscription, so be warned!
Even with out the entire delays that impacted the eventual launch of Again in Motion, from Jamie Foxx’s sudden hospitalization in April 2023 to the Hollywood strikes and past, followers have been nonetheless pumped about seeing the actor sharing the display anew together with his Any Given Sunday co-star Cameron Diaz in her return to appearing. (Netflix reportedly paid her a king’s sum to return out of retirement.) And but after watching it myself, I used to be quite shocked that the most effective factor about Again in Motion isn’t both of its high-profile stars.
The action-comedy’s core plot additionally wasn’t probably the most logical or participating on the entire, which is a degree that many critics raised in disapproval, however I really suppose the important thing ingredient saving the movie from turning into the primary forgettable blockbuster of the 2025 film schedule is the presence of BAFTA-winning comic Jamie Demetriou. Few within the biz can immediately add 20-30% extra quirky and comedic heft to a challenge like Demetriou can, no matter the place he slots on the decision sheet.
Jamie Demetriou Steals Each Again In Motion Scene He is In
From the second he is launched, Demetriou’s wannabe MI6 agent Nigel is straight away the odd duck, and never solely as a result of he is is romantically concerned with a lady 40 years his elder, Glenn Shut’s former sniper Ginny. (He is her “particular little challenge,” with a lot ick connected.) Regardless of all of the pent-up friction between Diaz’s Emily and her estranged mom, Nigel is keen to please.
After formally assembly Emily and Matt, whose handsomeness he undoubtedly observed, Nigel delivers one of many film’s funniest moments when speaking to McKenna Roberts’ Alice and Rylan Jackson’s Leo:
Wow, I really like youngsters. It is your innocence, your sense of surprise. Now let me simply plop this on the desk like a sizzling jelly on Christmas morning: would you prefer to name me Granddad?
Which Nigel then follows by breathlessly saying that he does not essentially need to be seen by Matt and Emily as a father determine, however as a buddy. Like fairly just a few different slices of dialogue in Again in Motion, Nigel’s feedback lean extra into trope humor than something totally natural, however Demetriou nonetheless manages to make the traces really feel totally honest to his character’s rose-colored glasses worldview.
From there, Nigel and Ginny are fortunately introduced into the high-octane motion plot, albeit from the sidelines for some time. And he does not even want to have the ability to speak coherently to win viewers’ consideration, as confirmed when Ginny and Nigel are tied up with tape over their mouths.
I do not imply to take something away from Glenn Shut’s efficiency right here by glorifying all issues Jamie Demetriou. She actually brings the proper quantity of credible gravitas and confidence to Ginny that Nigel clearly strives for, making his personal sense of self-assurance that rather more amusing compared.
What’s extra, he finally ends up being Semi-Hero of the Day by attaining possession of the ICS key and averting a doubtlessly disastrous flood. Was it full rubbish that Nigel smacking the laptop computer in determined frustration made all the pieces magically work in his favor? Completely, however I am not going in charge a deux ex machina on the actor himself.
Nigel And Ginny Ought to Get Their Personal Again In Motion Sequel
For all that Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz are genuinely entertaining to look at collectively on display, I wasn’t all that amped up by Again in Motion‘s last-second sequel-priming reveal that Emily’s father can be nonetheless alive and concerned with one thing shady. I suppose it could be enjoyable to for Alice and Leo to coach up and be a part of the motion themselves, however it’d be arduous to not choose the mother and father for permitting it.
As an alternative, I would quite see Jamie Demetriou and Glenn Shut particularly staff up once more for a second movie the place we get to see Ginny placing Nigel by means of the gauntlet of MI6 coaching, no matter what overarching plotline they’d must observe. To observe a bunch of official brokers raining judgment down on Nigel’s bumbling optimism feels like a cringe-covered deal with.
I doubt director and co-writer Seth Gordon will really go that route, when Diaz and Foxx are the plain headliners right here, however one can at all times hope. And through all that hoping, followers can even take a look at a handful of Demetriou’s different A+ performances famous beneath:
- The Afterparty Season 1 – stream with an Apple TV+ subscription
- Stath Lets Flats Seasons 1-3 – stream with a Peacock subscription
- A Complete Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou particular – stream with a Netflix subscription
Jamie Demetriou may also quickly be seen in Jay Roach’s satire The Roses, in addition to the upcoming Adam Sandler film Jay Kelly, which is being helmed by Noah Baumbach and co-stars George Clooney, Laura Dern and loads of different A-listers for the UK actor to shine amongst.