Jamie Foxx is ready to return to his comedic roots by joining the cast of Todd Phillips’ “Due Date.” Foxx, whose last comedy was the best-forgotten “Breakin’ All The Rules” five years ago, and who got his start on the Fox sketch comedy show “In Livin’ Color,” had pretty much pulled a Tom Hanks lately, signing exclusively to Oscar-baiting fare since his career changing turn in “Ray.” (Although his latest film, “Law Abiding Citizen” opening this fall, may turn out to be unintentionally hilarious if the trailers are any indication.)
Foxx will join a helluva cast, playing the best friend to leading man Robert Downey Jr. (re-teaming following their true-life weepy “The Soloist”) who embarks on a road trip with his college slacker pal Zach Galifianakis in order to see his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and witness the birth of their first child. The plot frankly sounds like a retread of “The Hangover” with a wife/birth instead of a groom/wedding but we’ll give Phillips the benefit of the doubt here. The director has shown a remarkable knack for re-configuring standard raunch comedy setups and making them fresh (and we’ll pretend “School For Scoundrels” never happened). Furthermore, it will be very interesting to see Foxx cut loose again on the big screen, and with the combined antics of Downey Jr. and Galifianakis in play, the results could be amazing.
“Due Date” will go in front of cameras this fall.
Foxx has yet to develop a feature length film for this recurring “In Living Color” character: