Pretty much everyone in Hollywood is a multi-hyphenate these days, but Jamie Foxx is a true multi-hyphenate. He doesn’t direct a movie or release an album just to check an item off the standard Hollywood wish list — he’s genuinely gifted in a number of different areas. He’s a brilliant comedian, a brilliant musician, and of course, a brilliant actor. Some acting roles, like the music icon Ray Charles or the hilarious hitman “Motherf****r” Jones, make use of Foxx’s other talents. Foxx has been showered with awards, including an Oscar, a Grammy, a BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, for his tremendous work. So, here are Jamie Foxx’s 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes.
Ali (67%)
This biopic of Muhammad Ali directed by Michael Mann is really Will Smith’s movie, since he takes the role of the titular boxing legend and runs with it. But Jamie Foxx is arguably second in line for the throne with his supporting role as Drew Bundini Brown, Ali’s trainer and cornerman. Ali focuses heavily on its subject’s political ideologies, from his involvement with Malcolm X to his criticism of the Vietnam War that led to the forcible suspension of his boxing career, but the focus is always on the man himself. While the movie is overlong, it is, on the whole, a fitting tribute to arguably the greatest boxer who ever lived.
Horrible Bosses (69%)
In this darkly comic pastiche of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, centered around three disgruntled employees who plot to murder each other’s bosses, Jamie Foxx plays the trio’s “murder consultant.” The character’s name is Dean “Motherf****r” Jones (he got his nickname from stealing his mom’s wages one night) and he is introduced as a shady career criminal who’s killed a bunch of people. As it turns out, he’s terrible at negotiation, doesn’t fully understand the law, and has hardly ever committed a crime in his life. Foxx arguably plays the funniest character in the movie, stealing every single scene he’s in.
Rio (72%)
This delightful animated adventure about a sheltered housebound macaw played by Jesse Eisenberg and a well-traveled explorers’ macaw played by Anne Hathaway is really a love story, but the beautiful visuals of Brazilian landscapes quickly distract from that. Jamie Foxx plays a supporting role as Nico, a yellow canary who enjoys samba dancing and wears a bottle cap on his head as a hat, using it as a tambourine. This movie got Pixar to call off one of its own upcoming projects due to plot similarities — it’s not often that other animation houses can rival Pixar on the storytelling front.
Dreamgirls (78%)
The critically-acclaimed musical drama Dreamgirls is a prime example of a film à clef: a movie that is technically a work of fiction, but takes a lot of inspiration from real life. This fictional story of hit factory Rainbow Records and one of its top acts, the Dreams, was heavily influenced by real-life hit factory Motown and one of its top acts, the Supremes. The movie received attention for Eddie Murphy’s surprisingly dramatic turn in a supporting role, but it’s Jamie Foxx who anchors the movie as car salesman-turned-record executive Curtis Taylor, Jr., based on Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr.
Ray (80%)
Jamie Foxx was awarded an Oscar (and a bunch of other acting trophies, making Foxx the second actor in history to win all five major lead actor awards for the same performance) for his turn as music legend Ray Charles in this heartfelt biopic.
The movie is a mostly accurate portrait of Charles’ life, which was achieved by director Taylor Hackford giving a Braille copy of the script to Charles himself for his approval. Foxx brings the charm and energy of Ray Charles to the screen in a way that very few actors, if any, have managed to do when playing an iconic entertainer.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs (84%)
Jamie Foxx only has a minor supporting role in the oddly titled romantic comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs, but he’s memorable in every scene. It’s the story of two women who are dating the same guy, and thematically, it’s about the debate of “ugly” versus “beautiful,” or at least society’s ideas thereof. Uma Thurman plays the “beautiful” one, who the guy deems more attractive but has nothing in common with, while Janeane Garofalo plays the “ugly” one, who the guy finds less attractive but is better matched with. It’s essentially a modern update of the classic play Cyrano de Bergerac.
TIE: Django Unchained (86%)
Quentin Tarantino had been using the motifs of the Spaghetti Western throughout his entire career, but he didn’t actually make his own until he was on his seventh movie, Django Unchained. It’s the story of a dentist-turned-bounty hunter who frees a slave and trains him in his violent trade.
While using the subject matter of American slavery for a darkly comic Western proved to be controversial at first, the movie was acclaimed by critics and showered with awards upon release. Will Smith was Tarantino’s first choice to play Django, but now, it’s hard to picture anyone besides Jamie Foxx in the role, because he embodied Django so compellingly.
TIE: Just Mercy (86%)
This true-to-life legal drama is Jamie Foxx’s latest movie, and critics are also calling it one of his best. He stars as Walter McMillian, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent six years on death row in an Alabama prison before he was allowed to appeal the conviction. Hotshot young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, who is played excellently by Michael B. Jordan, helped him with the appeal, and against all odds, they succeeded. Naturally, with a story like this, the movie has a political standpoint, but it doesn’t feel preachy — it lets this powerful tale of injustice speak for itself.
TIE: Collateral (86%)
This slick action thriller set on the neon-lit streets of L.A. was helmed by Michael Mann. It’s a striking two-hander, starring Jamie Foxx as a mild-mannered cabbie and Tom Cruise as the ruthless hitman who commandeers his taxi for a night while he carries out jobs all over town. While Cruise is the chilling, unpredictable, emotionless assassin that we fear, it’s Foxx who keeps us interested in the movie, since he’s the one we’re afraid for. He’s the one that Cruise has under his thumb and could turn against at any moment. It inspires Foxx to become a hero in the end.
Baby Driver (93%)
Edgar Wright invented a whole new genre for his action comedy Baby Driver. It combines the car-based action thriller with the heist caper with the jukebox musical (except the jukebox is an iPod) with the romantic comedy. Hybrid genres are nothing new, but this is a hybrid-hybrid-hybrid genre, making it pretty much its own thing. Jamie Foxx played “Bats,” one of the criminals that Baby has to drive around. Bats’ robbery goes horribly wrong, and during the getaway, Baby stops Bats from murdering an innocent person, so he begins to suspect Baby of colluding with the Feds, furthering the conflict of the movie. Bats also hilariously wears an Austin Powers mask to the bank heist after a miscommunication with the team.