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Sometimes, remaking an old classic does not go according to plan, as the recent Baywatch movie taught director Seth Gordon.
Speaking to ClutchPoints about his new Netflix movie Back in Action, starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, Gordon reflected on his “intense” experience making Baywatch. While he remains proud of the swings he took, he knows it wasn't well-received.
“I feel like I had approached that movie with my own take on how we could show the life of the lifeguards and have fun with the frame that that all happened in,” Gordon said, defending his Baywatch remake. “I felt like some of it just didn't connect. People didn't totally get it — at least the reviewers.”
In the years since, Gordon has received compliments from various people, which is validating. At the same time, it has taught Gordon to let go of his ego. He knows that all he can do is make the best movie possible and hope that the wider public enjoys it.
“There's only so much you can do about the way things are received,” he conceded. “You do [the] best work that you can, and put it out into the world and you hope the Zeitgeist treats it well. But you can't control it.”
On Rotten Tomatoes, Baywatch has an 18% from critics. Its audience score is substantially higher at 56%, but it is still not great. Fortunately, his latest project, Back in Action, is a step up, scoring 25% from critics from the review aggregator.
How that led to Back in Action
Whether you like his movies or not, the Baywatch disaster led Seth Gordon to his next movie, Back in Action. The new Netflix flick marks Cameron Diaz's return to acting after over a decade.
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Gordon explained how Back in Action was born out of Baywatch's poor reception. His producing partner for Back in Action, Beau Bauman, encouraged Gordon to take the reins with his next project. Gordon co-wrote the script of Back in Action on top of directing and producing it.
“Beau was really supportive of me writing something and starting [it] from scratch,” said Gordon. “I think that that confidence really helped me believe in this, and then all these amazing things started to happen.”
In conclusion, Gordon took his “lumps,” but he is still standing. Baywatch may have been a misstep, but he got to make another star-studded movie almost eight years later.
Back in Action is a new Netflix movie starring Diaz and Foxx. They play a couple of spies who retire from their careers in favor of starting a family.
However, their suburban life is interrupted 15 years later. They have to take their family on the run to London, England, to retrieve a mysterious key. In addition to Diaz and Foxx, McKenna Roberts, Kyle Chandler, and Glenn Close also star in Back in Action.
Diaz and Foxx previously starred in Any Given Sunday and Annie. The latter was also Diaz's final movie for over a decade before her comeback.
Back in Action is streaming on Netflix.
