Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes isn’t the end all be all to film criticism and discussion, but it’s a helpful tool. This is especially true if one is seeking the best work from a particular actor or director. Take, for instance, Jamie Foxx. The actor’s newest star vehicle, Back in Action (which he leads alongside Cameron Diaz, returning to movies after a long 11 years), is now streaming on Netflix. The reviews for the direct-to-streaming film haven’t been the best in the world, but there are quite a few Foxx flicks that have scored with critics. Not to mention, his two previous Netflix movies, Day Shift and Project Power, both scored slightly above average reviews, even if neither genre film was intended for Oscar gold.
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What follows are Foxx’s five very best films, at least according to critics whose reviews are featured on Rotten Tomatoes. Just missing the cut-off but still worth watching are Jarhead, Horrible Bosses, Ray, Rio, Dreamgirls, and Just Mercy.
5) Collateral (2004)
Heat and The Last of the Mohicans director Michael Mann can be a bit hit or miss, but when he hits, he really hits. Neo-noir nail-biter Collateral was Mann’s best film in years, with a terrifying against-type lead performance by Tom Cruise and equally impressive co-lead work from Foxx. The narrative follows Foxx’s L.A. cab driver Max Durocher as he finds his life taken over for an evening by cold-hearted hitman Vincent (Cruise).
Arguably no movie has captured nighttime Los Angeles better than Collateral, and that was certainly a factor critics appreciated. They also praised its methodical but never slow pacing, the captivating performances, and the intelligence of the script.
4) Django Unchained (2012)
As much a commercial success as a critical one, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained made for another win under the director’s belt. With style to spare and a massive run time that just breezes by, it’s an action-packed yet thoughtful film with four tremendous performances by Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz.
Coming off of Tarantino’s best film since Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, it would have been easy for the director to let fans and critics down. But across the board, people fell for the movie, with many critics praising its style, entertainment value, and Tarantino’s layered script.
3) Baby Driver (2017)
Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver follows Ansel Elgort’s ‘Baby,’ a getaway driver who is on the verge of leaving his unsavory life, getting out from under the thumb of ‘Doc’ (Kevin Spacey). Once he meets Debora (Lily James), a waitress who shares his good taste in music, “Baby” wants to expedite his exit from the criminal underworld. But first, he has to pull off one last job: drive ‘Buddy’ van Horn (Jon Hamm), ‘Darling’ Costello (Eiza Gonzรกlez), and the sadistic ‘Bats’ Jefferson III (Foxx).
Like the rest of Wright’s filmography, critics got a lot out of Baby Driver. Many even found it to be one of the best movies of 2017, with particular praise going to its rapid-fire pacing, editing, soundtrack, and smart script.
2) Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
A highpoint of MCU Phase Four, Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home is both a love letter to the Spider-Man films of the past and an interesting new direction for the current iteration. Like Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, Rhys Ifans, and Thomas Haden Church, Foxx reprises the role he played years ago. He returns as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
And, while Foxx isn’t given as much to chew on as Molina or Dafoe, he makes the most of his villainous comeback (and is the only one of the five villains to actually get a better take on their respective character than the first time around). Like the many, many general audience members and franchise fans who went to see it, critics loved No Way Home, respecting how it was able to balance its Multiverse premise without sacrificing narrative momentum or lovable, well-drawn characters.
[RELATED – Spider-Man: No Way Home Almost Had a Ben Affleck Daredevil Easter Egg]
1) Soul (2020)
In Pixar’s Soul, Foxx stars as Joe Gardner, a middle school teacher with a deep love for music and a strong desire to be a professional pianist. After falling into an open manhole, Gardner’s body is in a coma, with his soul going to a land called the “Great Beyond.” Desperate to return to life on Earth, Gardner must first mentor a few other souls. In doing so, he gains a new appreciation for his time on the big blue marble.
With gorgeous music by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste, the Academy Award-winning Soul will have you humming long after the credits have rolled. Like Pixar’s other great movies, Soul was appreciated for appealing to adults as much as children. Some reviewers found that it overextended itself, but even the more negative reviews skewed positive.
