Grade: B-

Verdict: Foxx and a not-bad plot are the hook.

Details: Starring Jamie Foxx, David Morse and Kimberly Elise. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Rated R for profanity and violence. One hour, 50 minutes.

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Review: "Bait" may not hook you with its first couple of scenes, but give it time. After all, this is still a generic action-comedy with all the requisite explosions and quips.

But despite its genre trappings, "Bait" is an entertaining and occasionally clever picture with a crackling peformance by Jamie Foxx, who showed off his big-screen moves in last year's "Any Given Sunday."

Foxx plays Alvin Sanders, a hapless petty thief who lands in jail after a failed attempt to rob a fish market ("Not shrimp," he keeps telling his partner. "Prawns .")

His cellmate is a much bigger fish, a guy named John Jaster (Robert Pastorelli) who has a weak heart. He's been incarcerated for a high-tech heist - several millions in gold from the Federal Reserve. In fact, it's so high-tech that the feds don't just want their gold back; they're worried there's still someone out there so skilled, he could threaten national security. And, they would like their gold back.

To get that somebody to come out of hiding, a Treasury agent named Edgar Clenteen (David Morse) arranges for Alvin's early release. He also implants a tracking device on him, thus making him the titular bait. Trouble is, Alvin isn't about to give up his old ways. Since he doesn't know the feds are inside his head (literally), this leads to some interesting do-we-watch-or-do-we-act situations for Clenteen and company.

The picture has its weaknesses. A by-the-books climax that builds improbably and just keeps building long past the patience of anyone who doesn't think "Armageddon" was one of the best movies of the '90s. (A cautionary note: One of the writers is also credited with "Armageddon.") A tacked-on subplot that gives Alvin a girfriend (Kimberly Elise) and a little daughter to help him grow up. And a tacky performance by Doug Hutchison that's a shameless being-John-Malkovich impersonation, down to every sibilant, silken syllable.

But here's the good news. The writers actually tried to make this more than just a Jamie Foxx vehicle and, to his credit, Foxx let them. An element suggestive of "The Truman Show" emerges as Clenteen's team gets involved with Alvin as a regular flesh-and-blood guy. So much so that their leader has to remind them, "Alvin is bait. That's all he is. And you know what happens to bait."

Elise ("Beloved") gives character to a plot-device role, while Morse, who's featured in the upcoming "Dancers in the Dark," is especially effective as the not-quite-villainous Clenteen.

As for Foxx, he's still the movie's bait, so to speak, and he should be. He has the freshness and charm of the early Eddie Murphy, but with a vulnerable edge and an edgy wariness that's all his own.

Not that we need one, but if anyone's thinking about a remake of "48 Hours," he's their man.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Cox News Service