10 of My Favourite Jamie Foxx Performances

There is no denying that Jamie Foxx is a talented human being.  That's why I didn't even bother putting him on my list of up and coming Denzels and Wills.  He has mastered sketch comedy with In Living Color, he had his own sitcom with The Jamie Foxx Show, he's an Oscar winning actor, plus he can SANG!

That doesn't mean that Jamie doesn't deserve being celebrated every now and then.  Plus, it'll get us in the mood for his appearance in his first Edgar Wright movie, Baby Driver!

Role/Rank:
#10- Ricardo Tubbs in Miami Vice (2006)

Favourite Part:
I know people don't like this movie, and I'm not sure I love it, but I'm all in for this Jamie Foxx performance.  Especially when Jamie is spending time with his significant other and he pretends to finish early while they're making love.  It's one of those rare moments where it's endearing and real in an otherwise surreal film so you think it could be improvised, but, it never betrays the character so it could have been part of the script all along.  Just some good acting by Jamie.  I am troubled by the rumours that Jamie and Colin didn't get along.  Especially since they're both in the next movie.

Role/Rank:
#9- "MF" Jones in Horrible Bosses (2011)

Favourite Part:
When Jamie explains how he earned the MF in his name it's well written, but there's also the added bonus of how he delivers the material that took me on a ride just like the characters he was telling the story too.  I also just appreciated the fact that he wasn't a criminal mastermind but he knew enough to get what he wanted out of three marks he knew were already scared of him.  I can't front though, he also had me fooled in terms of his ability to properly mastermind a Strangers on a Train type situation for the three friends.  Plus if the rumours of Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell not getting along on the set of Miami Vice were true, I was happy to see it didn't stop them from appearing in movies together again and risking having to see each other at premieres.

Role/Rank:
#8- Nick Rice in Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Favourite Part:
Everything to do with Nick Rice's character was great for me.  I truly enjoyed this movie until Gerard Buttler's character's plan was fully revealed and he turned into a cartoon villain.  If I had to pinpoint what I liked about Jamie's performance, though, it'd be the fact that it's pretty close to Will Smith in Enemy of the State, and I love that movie!

Role/Rank:
#7- Staff Sgt. Sykes in Jarhead (2005)

Favourite Part:
If you're coming from a show like In Living Color,  I'm honestly going to forever see you as a comedic genius.  This means that I'm always going to look to you to be a comedic force in any film or TV show I see you in.  Jarhead was Jamie Foxx's first time, I can think of, that I saw him as a talented actor instead of just the funny guy.  Jamie didn't provide intentional comedic relief.  He was a straight man for most of the movie and he pulled it off like Jonah in Money Ball, Seth in Steve Jobs, and Danny McBride in Alien Covenant.  Yes he was in serious movies before this and I'll get to those, but I would argue he was never this authoritative and devoid of humour/vulnerability.

Role/Rank:
#6- Curtis Taylor Jr. in Dreamgirls (2006)

Favourite Part:
STEPPIN TO THE BADSIDE!!!  Being able to see both Eddie and Jamie stretch their legs in this movie was great!  I'm usually not a fan of Jamie Foxx as a bad guy.  Even though I'll still stick up for him when he's unfairly blasted for his other bad guy role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  But this was bigger than me wanting Jamie Foxx to be the good guy in everything he does.  This was a chance for him to showcase his acting and singing abilities in a movie that would get a lot of eyes on it.  And yes that song I referenced at the beginning of this entry really is my favourite part that doesn't involve Eddie Murphy freestyling and dropping his pants.

Role/Rank:
#5- Drew "Bundini" Brown in Ali (2001)

Favourite Part:
BRUH!  it's Will Smith and Jamie Foxx in the same movie... you can't tell me you don't want to watch that!  As I stated earlier, Jamie has been in dramas before Jarhead, however, in this movie he still gets the funny lines so that Will can seem like the more dramatic actor by comparison.  That's all good, it works in this movie.  It's a performance anyone would be proud of at the stage Jamie was in his career and something I'd love to see happen again with like a Denzel.

Role/Rank:
#4- Max in Collateral (2004)

Favourite Part:
Collateral is another dramatic movie where Jamie isn't the comic relief per se, but, he does act as the everyday guy who the audience associates with and his vulnerability as well as moments with his mother play a big part in that.  That doesn't make the performance less important.  I mean it's this high up isn't it?  It also got him 1 of 2 acting nominations in the same night!  Plus you can miss me with that Tom Cruise hate!  His personal life aside, he is great in movies and this is definitely a great movie.  I loved the addition of Jamie having clearly soiled his pants after witnessing a murder.  The movie doesn't draw attention to it like a comedy but you can see it and I liked that touch.

Role/Rank:
#3- Willie Beamen in Any Given Sunday (1999)

Favourite Part:
Any Given Sunday is one of my favourite movies.  It's probably my favourite Al Pacino movie that isn't a Godfather film or Donnie Brasco (I will never like Scarface as much as society tells me I should).  But the big winner in this movie is Willie Beamen as played by Jamie Foxx and not Puff Daddy.  This role is exactly what I wanted from Jamie coming off of In Living Color!  He can act, he gets to rap and he sings on a song with Common for the soundtrack.  It's like the perfect demo reel for Jamie.  My favourite part is when Jamie talks about knowing his worth in the league and not wanting to be used.  But that's just the movie.  The best part is how he ate off of the LL Cool J friction after the fact.  Showing off his stand up skills... HE. IS. SO. TALENTED!

Role/Rank:
#2- Django Freeman in Django Unchained (2012)

Favourite Part:
This sucks because I think Django is a better film.  It was my favoruite movie the year it came out despite it having some pacing issues.  Regardless, I need to think about the actual Jamie Foxx performance in this amazing movie.  Yes I think it's great!  Just not my favourite work he's done if I'm being completely honest so it'll have to be second place.  No one can beat his delivery of "I like the way you die boy!"  I think that was what I loved about the whole performance.  I was truly rooting for him to get revenge on everyone who wronged him and I liked his friendship with Schultz.  It may seem obvious that I'd root for a runaway slave in a movie, but, believe me, other movies have tried similar narratives and I don't think they were as successful as Django.  Yes some of that is thanks to Quentin's writing, but Jamie really made everything feel real.

Role/Rank:
#1- Ray Charles in Ray (2004)

Favourite Part:
Not without its own pacing issues, Ray is 100% the best Jamie Foxx role.  Oscar winning aside, you know how I know this was Jamie's best role?  He has played Ray not once, but twice on a Kanye West song and a Field Mob song (pretty clever getting around clearing an actual Ray Charles sample) and the songs didn't suffer for it.  A lot has been made (in this post) about Jamie's talent in acting and singing so it makes sense that the best role for him would have him doing both extremely well.  His dedication to this role had him rehearsing with Ray himself and gluing his eyes shut so that he could really play the role blind.  The work he put into this role shows on screen even down to the fact that I can't tell when they're using Jamie vocals or real Ray Charles vocals.

-YG