Rating: 
Summary: Affleck Finally Delivers Post "Good Will Hunting"
Review: I did not expect to like this movie. The biggest reason is that I've only seen Ben Affleck in one movie where I liked his acting, "Good Will Hunting." He surprised me in this movie by doing a very good acting job and holding his own with Gwyneth Paltrow, his romantic lead. The gist of the story is easy to follow. Affleck plays Buddy Amaral, a successful ad executive with substance abuse and commitment problems to anything but getting ahead. He gives his airline ticket to another passenger when he sees the opportunity to have a one night stand by staying on the ground in Chicago where a snow storm is ongoing. The plane crashes and the other guy dies instead of Buddy. Unable to handle the guilt from this situation, he eventually seeks out the dead man's widow and starts to help her in business without telling her who he is. The romantic complications flow from this basic setup. Affleck and Paltrow are very good as a couple together, which maybe was helped by their being a real life couple for a time during and after the movie. The costuming, makeup and hair designers must have knocked themselves out trying to make Paltrow as plain as possible. I almost didn't recognize her when she came onscreen. I think her plainness was a bit overdone. Hubby even liked this movie despite his usually avoiding this type of movie. He even went so far as to say he thought Affleck was terrific. I'm not willing to go quite that far but, all in all, it is very good.
Rating:
Summary: excellent romantic drama
Review: 'Bounce' is an utterly winning romantic drama, replete with an intriguing storyline, believable characters and honest emotions. Ben Affleck stars as Buddy Amaral, an arrogant hotshot advertising exec, who, in a rare moment of kindness, offers his seat on an airplane to a young writer desperate to get home to his wife and kids for the holidays. When the man dies in a plane crash, Buddy is suddenly sent on a mission of soul-searching, trying to sort out the complex emotions he is now forced to deal with. When drinking provides no solution, he feels himself compelled to seek out the man's widow, Abby, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, and their two young boys. Buddy keeps his connection with them a secret as he begins to fall in love with Abby and to become a part of their wounded family. In its bare-boned detailing, the plot may smack a bit of incredibility and contrivance. But thanks to expert writing and directing by Don Ross, every detail in the film feels just right. Take the opening scene, for instance. Ross gives the chance encounter between the two strangers who will be forever tied together by fate the loose, casual, and offhanded quality one finds in real life. Nothing in this film ever seems forced, least of all the romantic feelings these two hurt, vulnerable and attractive people feel for one another. In fact, it is the complexity of the characters that helps 'Bounce' to rise above the superficiality of most films in this genre. In addition to Buddy's character-building, we see Abby trying desperately to overcome the bewildering tragedy that has befallen her, unsure of how to deal with her own feelings of loss, guilt and anger that inevitable arise from such a situation. Affleck and Paltrow bring such an air of thoughtfulness and maturity to their roles that we find ourselves genuinely caught up in their predicament and rooting them on all the way. It's nice for a change to see a romantic film truly centered on a pair of likable grownups as opposed to the superannuated adolescents we usually find in films of this type. Here are flawed, often weak, individuals who nevertheless contain cores of genuine goodness and innate warmheartedness. The movie also achieves additional depth and weight in its exploration of the vagaries of fate as many of the characters examine the 'what if' scenarios that haunt anyone caught up in a situation like this one. 'Bounce' is well written, directed and acted. Even those who don't normally go for love stories should definitely check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Good cast, BAD movie
Review: I was appalled by how poor this movie was. I love both Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow and it's a shame that a movie with reasonable potential could be so bad. The characters are un-interesting and the plot is overly predictable to the point of annoying. This movie was a waste of a perfectly good 106 minutes of my evening.
Rating:
Summary: Chick Flick Hell
Review: Prepare yourself and sharpen the razor blades if your woman brings this home to watch with you one evening. This is a romantic comedy without romance or comedy. Ben Affleck is his usual shallow character we see time and time again. Gwyneth Paltrow does her best, but doesn't have much to work with. If you've read enough reviews, you know by now Ben visits and ends up courting a widow whose husband's death he is indirectly responsible for. After about an hour of this yawnfest you'll wish you had a night out with the boys instead of cuddling on the couch. The things us men have to endure for the sake of our women is tedious and sad, but this movie is brutal torture. When she brings this home, do anything you can to get out of the house or pour water on the DVD player.
Rating:
Summary: Ben And Gwyneth Get It Right
Review: A tragic brush with fate sets a man on a road to self awareness and discovery that drastically alters his perception of himself and the world in which he lives, in "Bounce," directed by Don Roos and starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow. In Chicago on business, waiting at the airport for a flight back to L.A. just before Christmas, Advertising Exec/salesman Buddy Amaral (Affleck) gives his ticket to a man he's met that evening in the lounge, Greg Janello (Tony Goldwyn), who's just been bumped from his flight. A writer, in Chicago for the opening (and sadly, the closing) of one of his plays, Janello has a wife, Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow), and two kids waiting for him at home, and is grateful for Buddy's apparent random act of kindness. Far from being a benevolent gesture, however, Buddy's motives are purely self-serving, and have to do with another passenger, Mimi (Natasha Henstridge), who's also been bumped and who has been given accommodations for the night by the airline. It seems that everything has worked out well for all concerned, until later that night, when the news breaks that the plane carrying Janello has crashed somewhere in Kansas, and that there are no survivors. For Buddy, who should have been on that plane, it's an awakening; and for probably the first time in his life he is forced to look inward. And he doesn't like what he finds. His confrontation with the demons within ultimately leads him to Abby Janello, and another unexpected turn in his life. Director Roos has created a richly textured drama that is both captivating and credible; the story is well written (by Roos), developed with precision and expertly paced, which makes it all entirely believable. Much more than a simple love story, it's about a man forced to confront what he sees in the mirror, and how he must cope with what he finds there; and about a young woman with two children, suddenly widowed, who must come to grips with an unsure future while dealing with such a devastating loss. What follows is an examination of a relationship forged by fate and born of need; a fragile, precarious situation at best. And what makes this film so good is the gradual way the relationship between Buddy and Abby is formed, neither hurried nor forced, with a couple of truly poignant moments along the way. And it all rings true, courtesy of a great script, Roos directing and the engaging performances of the stars. Affleck brings real depth to his character, and most importantly, a sense of true sincerity that makes him real; he illuminates Buddy's imperfections to perfection. And Paltrow is absolutely disarming as Abby; gentle and vulnerable to a fault, winsomely charming, and beautifully played. Also, there is a definite chemistry between Paltrow and Affleck that cannot be denied. The supporting cast includes Jennifer Grey (Mrs. Guererro), Joe Morton (Jim), David Paymer (Prosecution Lawyer), Alex D. Linz (Scott) and Johnny Galecki. A touching, memorable movie, "Bounce" is a reflection on the journey of life we all must take; and it makes you realize that it's something you have to work at. It's a film that makes you stop to reconsider choices made in the past, while recognizing that in the end, perhaps love and happiness is the bonus for doing it right.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent B-movie
Review: Bounce's director and writer, Don Roos, has an interesting history. He's the writer of the 5 star Boys On the Side, and writer/director of the oddly warm-hearted (for a film supposedly meant to be cynical) The Opposite Of Sex. And Bounce feels like Mr Roos continuing his restless search for whatever it is that he really, really, wants to say. Bounce is a - well, it's hard to say. Tragedy? Rom com? Rehab drama? It has all these elements, and the genre switches as you change focus. Follow the Gwyneth Paltrow character and you could be watching a Sandra Bullock produced woman-getting-back-out-there film. Follow the Ben Affleck character and it's like Gus Van Sant was given a budget. Follow Paltrow's kids and its a drama about fathers. Follow the airline and it's a courtroom drama. Perhaps it should have been a trilogy. I don't know. But even though it doesn't have the world's strongest throughline, or indeed a consistent tone, there is a great deal to like. Gwyneth does grief - and it's necessary hesitation at getting back 'out there' on the dating scene - very well. The kids are good. Johnny Galecki steals all the scenes he is in, as Affleck's ex-alcoholic gay assistant. And there is very strong support in relatively tiny roles - Natasha Henstridge as an unblousy one night stand and Jennifer Grey as an ex are both good. I confess the appeal of Affleck largely passes me by, but he is passable in this. At the end of the film, and for a few days after, I found myself wondering what Don Roos intended, and whether he felt it had worked. I don't know. But it's nice that he's pushing himself in different styles and genres. Roll on his circus/Martian/kick-boxing/love movie, or whatever it is that he's dreaming of.
Rating: 
Summary: Failed Chick Flick
Review: There's not much to recommend this movie. There's no real chemistry between Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, which is a shame because they're both talented actors, and they've both proven they can do romance. They just don't do it here. In fact, there's so little connection it's obvious they're just reading scripted lines. In the end, it's neither their fault, nor the writers: the lines are all right, and they're read well, but there's just no chemistry. There are only two major failures with this movie, but they're doozies: the characters and the plot concept. The characters fail to grow on viewers despite all the standard awkward situations they're put into to create sympathy. Affleck's guilt over Paltrow's husband seems contrived, rather than genuine or understandable. He is a sterotypical villain, ready, even eager, to prey on others. Even his career is sterotypical: he an ad exec; of course he's a horrible human being. His character fails: a flat-character bad guy that almost, but not quite, becomes a likeable guy. His guilt and self-loathing seem contrived. Paltrow's character fails as well: you sometimes feel sorry for her, but never really sympathize. The other major failure is the plot twist. The only redeeming factor is the that-could-have-been-me factor, which is given away in the trailers and not developed in the movie. If they had spent more time developing his character around that, and not forcing him to persue Paltrow's character, this movie might have been saved. Instead, they use it as a cheap plot device, and throw it away. There's not even anything to qualify it as a decent chick-flick- there's nothing to sigh about at the end, you never say "just say yes, you twit! Can't you see he loves you?". It's a little too much like watching a very boring episode of Springer, minus any redeeming drama.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet & Romantic
Review: This is a sweet and romantic movie, and I suggest it to any romantic-movie-lovers. I don't exactly suggest this movie for teen boys, they may find it too "mushy."
Rating:
Summary: A Strange Turn of Events
Review: Bounce (PG-13)- I either love or hate Gwyneth Paltrow and in this movie I loved her. But alas, I can't say the same for the movie itself. How Don Roos, the acidic genius of The Opposite of Sex could have written this drivel is beyond me. Ben Affleck proves yet again that he has taken over Richard Gere's reign as the most over rated heart throb working in Hollywood. Quite a feat given that Mr. Gere is still making movies! We have seen this story a million times and there is nothing entertaining or original enough this time around to keep you from doing anything but wait for the predictable last reel to finally thread up.
Rating:
Summary: One Star.
Review: Gwyneth Paltrow, aka "Miss Miramax" and the It Girl of 1998, stars in this film directed by the man who gave us the wickedly funny "The Opposite of Sex." But is that enough to warrant a purchase of this DVD? The trailer and even the TV ad spots are all you need to see to determine what's wrong with this film. First off, it stars Ben Affleck, whose celebrity wattage has been dimming since his 1997 Oscar for "Good Will Hunting." Secondly, its contrived love story smells like a chick flick. Trailers are supposed to entice the public to see a film, but this one discouraged me. Yuppie women who max out their credit cards on Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and Ann Taylor will run to see this film and to figure out how Paltrow can pull it off as a dyed brunette. But for those who have reasonably good taste like myself, we will have to go somewhere else for a comedy that won't insult our intelligence.
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