Bait

Play trailer

Bait

R

Released Sep 15, 2000

1h 59m

Action

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

26%

Tomatometer

81 Reviews

41%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Landing in jail for a petty theft crime, Alvin finds himself sharing a cell with John Jaster, the incarcerated half of the pair of high-tech thieves responsible for the missing gold. His partner, Bristol, is still at large. Alvin wants only to get out of prison and start fresh with his girlfriend, Lisa, and when the Feds, led by U.S. Treasury investigator Clenteen, set him loose on a sketchy deal, he thinks his luck has changed. Alvin has his freedom and the Feds have found their bait.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Even though Jamie Foxx shines in Bait, the movie suffers from music video roots and a formulaic script that strains credibility.

Read Critics Reviews

Jay Carr

Boston Globe

Instead of a tiger in its tank, this vehicle for Foxx has a lot of formula.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Paul Tatara

CNN.com

Director Antoine Fuqua ... serves up every cliche in the book.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Steve Daly

Entertainment Weekly

Watching [the events] unfold is like being at the mercy of a compulsive channel surfer who can't stop flipping between a bad UPN cop show and a stock WB sitcom.

Rated: D+

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: C-

Mar 19, 2013

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Well paced, but weak on story, character, and variety, "Bait" is an underwhelming effort from director Anton Fuqua.

Rated: C-

May 18, 2009

Full Review

Mark Halverson

Sacramento News & Review

Rated: 2/5

Aug 7, 2008

Full Review

Read all reviews

Chris K

It is well worth anyone viewing it. I’ve seen it about three times since it came out. Jamie Foxx is hilarious, and then you have Mike Epps, and the two dudes from the Green Mile lol. I don’t know what people want out of every movie they see. But I’ll bet that they generally leave poor reviews to make themselves look good. This movie was well worth the $1.37 on Amazon Prime that it cost to rent. I mean, really… For that, what do you have to lose?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/25

Full Review

Sergio C

Jamie fox was funny but the plot is plain idiotic but the government spending and stupidity seems legit..

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/30/22

Full Review

georgan g

This movie is mostly thriller with comedy throw in here & there. As always, Jamie Fox is good. Interesting plot.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Entertaining but they spent 43 million in tech to get back 42 million lol

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The DVD had been sitting on a shelf for 7 years. I decided to give it a try and I objectively found it very entertaining. There are worse movies than "Bait" out there !!!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Screenplay taken from the screenplay generator. Yawn.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Antoine Fuqua

Director

Jamie Foxx

Alvin Sanders

David Morse

Edgar Clenteen

Doug Hutchison

Bristol

Robert Pastorelli

Jaster

Kimberly Elise

Lisa Hill

Bad Boys

44%

78%

Bad Boys

Watchlist

Bad Boys II

24%

78%

Bad Boys II

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Bad Boys II

All About the Benjamins

31%

76%

All About the Benjamins

Watchlist

The 51st State

26%

59%

The 51st State

Watchlist

A Low Down Dirty Shame

4%

69%

A Low Down Dirty Shame

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Landing in jail for a petty theft crime, Alvin finds himself sharing a cell with John Jaster, the incarcerated half of the pair of high-tech thieves responsible for the missing gold. His partner, Bristol, is still at large. Alvin wants only to get out of prison and start fresh with his girlfriend, Lisa, and when the Feds, led by U.S. Treasury investigator Clenteen, set him loose on a sketchy deal, he thinks his luck has changed. Alvin has his freedom and the Feds have found their bait.

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Producer: Sean Ryerson
Screenwriter: Andrew Scheinman, Adam Scheinman, Tony Gilroy
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Bait Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Village Roadshow Prod.
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 15, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 25, 2009
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now