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Bounce (2000)
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Genre: |
Drama |
Director: |
Don Roos |
Rating: |
PG-13 |
Running Time: |
102 Minutes |
Release Date: |
November 17, 2000 |
Official Website: |
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Movie Trailer: |
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Discuss and vote: |
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Cast: |
Ben Affleck
Gwyneth Paltrow
Natasha Henstridge
Johnny Galecki
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Pickup Line: Soaringly Romantic!
Quickie: During a snowy night, a bigshot Advertising Exec gives a writer his plane ticket so the guy can get home more quickly to his wife. The plane crashes, killing the writer, and guilty as hell, the bigshot Ad exec seeks out the writer's widow to make sure she's okay. And what do you know? They fall in love. Bounce, bounce.
The Long Review:
Most people will probably see "Bounce" because of the main attraction: Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow together again on-screen. These two beautiful people heat up the screen with their chemistry. If they don't watch it, Matt Damon may get a little jealous. Hehehe. In this dramatic romance, Affleck plays Buddy Amaral, a hotshot Advertising Executive at the peak of his game, who, during a snowy night in Chicago, kindly gives his plane ticket to Los Angeles to a Greg Janello (Tony Goldwyn), a writer he just met so the latter can get home to his pretty wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) more quickly. As it turns out, the plane crashes, sparing Amaral and killing Janello. Guilty and disillusioned, Buddy turns to the bottle, mucks up his career, and pretty much hits rock bottom. After rehab, part of his recovery is to make amends with people he has hurt. And that means Greg Janello's widow, Abby. So he seeks the now real estate agent out, helps her get a hefty commission from a big deal, and wins the unassuming widow's heart. Aaaaah, what a tangled web we weave.
What we have here is an unusual love story that doesn't contain the typical boy-meets-girl theme. This story has an added "oomph" or "bounce," if you may, to it. Two people are brought together by a tragedy and a certain kind of ironic sorrow follows the couple as they hold hands, kiss-kiss, do the nasty, and all that jazz. And as an audience, you feel like chanting to Paltrow's character, "I know something you don't know"...in a nice way, of course.
Affleck and Paltrow are the perfect people to play this couple. They're beautiful, likeable, and shared an offscreen romance once upon a time. And they were brought together by a certain tragedy as well...it's called breaking up with that blond hunk, Brad Pitt. Okay. We digress. Johnny Galecki as Affleck's hilariously verbose assistant comes close to stealing the show with his wacky performance but he doesn't...'cuz he's no Paltrow or Affleck. But he sure was funny.
"Bounce" is a touching romance with intelligent dialogue, an overall strong script, and great acting. The pace could have moseyed along a litle faster and the plot could have been a wee bit less predictable but overall, it's a good watch. It's a perfect date movie for those of you who want to get in the mood but who don't want to drown in all the sap and cheese. Roger Ebert says, "'Bounce'" has a strong set-up, good acting, intelligent dialogue and attractive characters, but it loses its way in technique. In movies with this story structure, all depends on the precise timing of the delay and the revelation, and 'Bounce' misses. Not by a lot, but by enough." We agree that some of the timing was off but we can forgive that because we liked it a lot more than we disliked it. Having been bombarded by cliched romances in the last, say, 200 years, we welcome a love story that's a little bit different. And that's what "Bounce" is.
In Two Minutes:
Did you know?
- Gwyneth Paltrow was allegedly invited to Brad Pitt's controversial marriage to "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston but she refused to attend. Surely she's not bitter?!
- Like we said, Paltrow and Affleck were the perfect people to play the couple in "Bounce." Both of them have graced People Magazine's Most Beautiful People list.
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