Bounce Review
by Chad Polenz (ChadPolenz AT aol DOT com)November 30th, 2000
Bounce
Did you notice Hollywood doesn't really make romances anymore? Movies today are rarely centered around a man and woman who meet, fall in love, have their share of problems and either break up or stay together forever. That only tends to happen in "period pieces" or as sub-plots in movies about other subjects. "Bounce" is the first movie to come along in a while that's actually set in the present day, is about real people really falling for each other. The problem is there's a secret between them, it's the film's niche but it becomes so overbearing at times the romance becomes virtually unbelievable.
Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow star here as Buddy Amaral and Abby Janello. They're good friends in real life and each has played romantic leads in other movies about modern-day star-crossed lovers. They come together here in a rather unusual way and once they get together they're immediately locked into a close-knit relationship.
The film tells the story of how Buddy met Abby - through a traumatic situation that some might pin on fate but others might attribute to luck but the
most cynical will say randomness has nothing to do with it.
Buddy is a Los Angeles-based advertising exec stuck at O'Hare airport in Chicago waiting for his flight to get clearance to take off in the snowy weather. While waiting in an airport bar he picks up a hot chick named Mimi (Natasha Henstridge) and befriends a man named Greg. The three converse as if they were old friends. Buddy is funny and charming and when he hears Greg talk about how he wishes he could get home to L.A. earlier Buddy gives him his plane ticket and manages to convince the airline's ticket checker to let him on no problem (which is a serious FAA violation in case you didn't know - I didn't). That plane crashes. Buddy feels a little relieved he wasn't on that flight and a little sorry Greg had to die but it bounces off his thick shell quite easily. Meanwhile we cut back to L.A.and meet Greg's wife Abby who is put through an emotional hell because she was certain Greg wasn't on that flight and shouldn't have been.
I'd seen the preview for "Bounce" at least 20 times this summer and it portrayed the love affair between Buddy and Abby as being purely chance. However, the actual screenplay here is much different and I think I have to take the more cynical route in discussing how Buddy and Abby meet and fall in love.
Buddy enters re-hab for three months and upon his release he tracks down Greg's family. He stalks Abby for a day and pretends to be an interested buyer in the property she's showing (Abby's a real estate agent), but is so smitten by her beauty he can't bring himself to tell the truth and pursues her as he would any other woman. Through a series of pretty quirky and somewhat humour events the two flirt, have a lot of awkward pauses, go on one date, almost decide to give up on each other, but then quickly realize they probably are perfect for each other and suddenly fall into a very serious relationship.
There's really no sub-plots going on throughout this movie. The screenplay is focused mainly on Buddy and his battle with his inner demons over whether he should tell Abby he's responsible for her husband's death. He's also a recovering alcoholic and there's a few scenes of drama along those lines. Not surprisingly Buddy's assistant is a young gay man who's also a recovering drunk and gives him the kick in the pants and makes for the obligatory gay one-liners we've come to expect in such movies (but which are funnier on television).
For the most part "Bounce" works as a fine dramedy. It's constantly on the edge between super-serious drama and all-out melodrama. Let's face it, under these circumstances can this story really be told in a believable, realistic manner?
Writer/director Don Roos does his best to pull it off but he only partially succeeds. The film is very reminiscent of another Ben Affleck romantic dramedy, "Chasing Amy." The romance between Buddy and Abby is pretty much plugged-in and implied through a lot of musical montages and cute scenes of Buddy having to meet Abby's friends and relatives and relate to her two young boys. Paltrow's screen time is surprisingly short compared to Affleck's, and most of what she does on film is look pretty, try hard not to cry, and spout a lot of dramatic cliches.
The last act of the film takes a turn for the worst in all ways, for both the characters and the movie itself. It becomes a rollercoaster of emotional battles and thus many tear-jerking scenes ensue. I have no problem with drama but "Bounce" dabbles with melodrama and tries to play it off as nothing and it doesn't work. The story is very predictable when things get so dramatic so you feel you're being pandered to than watching an authentic drama.
"Bounce" might have worked a lot better if it had a different hook. That Buddy and Abby are able to get together despite the fact he's indirectly responsible for her husband's death is an acceptable premise. The way the story is told just doesn't convey that as plausible.
GRADE: B-
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