Bounce

Rating:
Summary: Not too much spring in this BOUNCE
Review: BOUNCE is a DVD that's too good for its film. The expansive 2-disc format gives viewers really much more information than its mediocre subject deserves. Indeed, all that bonus material just gives mounting evidence that there was nothing at any stage of the development of this project that was really intriguing. I'd like to think that the film was somehow shortchanged by the studio's advertising department, or that there was some explanation for a concept film that's all concept and no character. But given the huge amount of materials on the DVD, it's fairly easy to say that once you've seen the trailer, you've seen the movie.

Worse, the trailer oversells the movie. It has some scenes which were blatantly cut from the final print, and tends to feature the comic side of the movie far too strongly. The movie doesn't even really deliver on its trailer's subtextual selling point: the on-screen reunion of real-life exes. Instead, Paltrow and Affleck's characters spend less time falling in love and more time agonizing about the secrets they're hiding from each other. Too bad for these fine actors that it's hard for an audience to stay interested in two hours worth of guilt. Inexplicably, one starts the movie basically to watch on-screen chemistry of off-screen lovers, only to end the movie not caring about them OR their characters. Somehow, they're just not FUN together, and that's what we hope they will be. If you want a better film about airplane tragedy guilt, see RANDOM HEARTS. If you want a better film about either Affleck or Paltrow falling in love, pick almost any other movie they've made.

What might possess you to buy this DVD are those extra features. There's more here than on most other films to help you judge the worth of the project in full. Deleted scenes, outtakes, and a behind-the-scenes featurette await. But maybe the most useful bit is an enlightening set of crew interviews, conducted mostly by Affleck and Paltrow. You'll find out a lot about what different people do on the set of a film, from gaffers to production assistants. Teachers, particularly, might want to buy this film for this particular feature. Equally, fans of Affleck and Paltrow will like to see how easily the actors get along with their crew. It's also one of the few filmed moments that sheds light onto how one makes a career behind the camera as a best boy or sound engineer.

Rating:
Summary: Eeeeewwwww!!!
Review: I hated this movie, a crass manipulation piece that seems interested only in establishing Ben Affleck's range (see also: sniffling) as an actor.

Totally devoid of nuance or subtlety (and swollen still by a spritely soundtrack that makes damn sure you know how to feel...on cue), I was too busy cringing to invest myself in its characters let alone its tired cliche of a story (see also "Return to Me").

The true nadir: Gwyneth making poor Ben bid farewell to her cubs. And I'm supposed to empathize with a character who would use her own children as an instrument to inflict emotional pain on another (for "lies" that are never fully explained but are amply used to give her anger - gotta love that range - the right traction)? Puhlease. Ick.

Rating:
Summary: So predictable movie!
Review: I don't recommend you to buy this movie unless you're Paltrow or Affleck's fan. The story line of this movie is so predictable...plane crash, a widow who tried to cope with the lost of her husband and a play-boy guy who finally learned about true love!! The best scene of this movie is when Affleck cried. But for overall, everything is predictable....

Rating:
Summary: Good Love Story.
Review: I saw this in theatres because it looked good and it was. I liked this Ben and Gwyneth did good the deleted scences were good and the gag reel (bloopers) so this is worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: WOW, What a load
Review: This has got to be one of the biggest piles of [junk] I have seen all year. It was interesting before I saw it. 'Guy gives other guy his plane ticket so that he can get some, guy feels guilty, guy falls in love with widow, guy can't tell widow what he did'- that is how I understood it. But then a director has to come in with his 'concept' and ruin it! I really think this movie had solid actors who, unfortunatly played dumb characters. AND THEN this thing gets a two disc set? There are movies that don't even have DVD versions out yet. Why can't we give that extra disc to them. Save space. Save your money. Don't buy this movie!

Rating:
Summary: This is not a good movie
Review: I wanted to cry about a dozen times throughout this movie! WHy? Cuz it wouldn't end!!!

It's hard to believe this movie is written by the same guy who wrote the incredibly smart, funny "THE OPPOSITE OF SEX". "BOUNCE" has horrible dialogue, uninteresting characters, and a plot that is intruging for about ten minutes.

This is an unbelievably bad movie for a talented guy like Don Roos. This is an embarassing follow-up to such a good movie like "sex".

Rating:
Summary: So so romance
Review: This is a decent (but not great) romantic drama/comedy about Buddy (Ben Affleck), an advertising executive who gives his airplane ticket to Greg (Tony Goldwyn), a stranger he meets during a flight delay. The plane crashes and Buddy is wracked with guilt, wanting to make amends to Greg's family. Upon meeting Greg's wife Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow), he falls in love with her, but keeps the switch a secret. To no one's surprise, the secret comes out and Abby doesn't take it well. This is standard romantic fare, boy meets girl; they fall madly in love and seem perfect for one another; a big blowup drives a wedge between them; he tries to win her back.

The plot uses a variation on the device used in "Random Hearts" where Harrison Ford's wife dies in a plane crash and he seeks out the wife of the man she was sitting next to, ultimately falling in love with her. Though somewhat contrived, it is an interesting device, however the two films arrived on the market too closely in time for it to be a coincidence.

This film tries to do too much. Writer/Director Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex) doesn't seem quite sure whether this is a serious drama or a lighthearted romantic comedy and he keeps flitting back and forth incongruously. Buddy is an alcoholic with intimacy problems, a cavalier attitude and a gigantic guilt complex. He is far too flawed to be believable in this relationship and Ben Affleck's devil-may-care demeanor on screen is a mismatch for the tortured soul he is portraying. Roos has trouble keeping the film on course making unnecessary plot digressions that bog the film down in spots.

Gwyneth Paltrow is terrific in the romantic scenes, but she is overly melodramatic in the serious scenes. Oddly, although Affleck and Paltrow dated for a while, they don't seem to have very good chemistry onscreen (perhaps that's why they broke up).

The DVD has a second disk devoted to special features, but much of that is taken up by a series of dreadfully bad impromptu interviews by Affleck and Paltrow with members of the production crew (like best boy, boom operator, hair stylist, etc.).

This is a fair story with good actors who are cast poorly, and a director who meanders too much. I rated it a 6/10.

Rating:
Summary: two oscar winners in a great romantic movie
Review: BOUNCE tells the story of a sucessful young guy played by Ben Afflect who switches place in an airflight with a man he had just met in the airport. Ben Afflect stays for the night and the man dies in an terrible accident with that same airplane. One year later, recovered from his trauma, Ben Afflect decides to contact the wife and kids of that man, just to check with they were doing well. Then he meets Gwyneth Paltrow and instantly falls in love, avoiding, at the same time, to get any kind of involvement with her.

This movie is really great. Gwyneth and Ben show why they won the oscars. They are very fine playing the parts and you can notice they have a real connection besides movie industry. Some dialogs in this film are really well written, and can make you laugh and cry in different scenes throughout the movie.

This is a 2 disc edition, and it's great to have such a complete material of this movie. The second DVD comes with some deleted scenes, gag reel, showing ben and gwyneth making all kinds of funny mistakes, "need to be next to you" video , from the soundtrack, besides a special called "all about bounce"in which the main actors interview the director and part of the crew.

If you enjoy romantic films, this is one you must have in your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Lacking in originality, but acting soars.
Review: You can enjoy "Bounce" as a by-the-numbers romance that goes through the motions of most other films of the genre, but that doesn't stop it from appearing cliched. The story of man-meets-woman (at least it's not boy-meets-girl) comes from an interesting twist in the beginning, but it all seems to paint itself into a corner without really breaking any new ground in the second two thirds. The performances from the two leads, as well as some of the supporting cast, make the movie worth watching, but the story really doesn't shine as much as it should.

That interesting twist comes in the beginning of the movie. Buddy Amaral is a successful ad executive who has just won over the campaign for Infinity Airlines, on which he is about to fly to Los Angeles. His flight is delayed because of inclimate weather, and soon he is chatting in the bar with Greg Janello, who is traveling back to L.A. to his family. When he discovers he has bumped from the flight, Janello phones his family to let them know he is taking a later flight, but Buddy gives him his ticket and tells him to get on the plane.

The twist occurs when Buddy learns that the plane crashed in flight, killing everyone aboard, and his guilt over the death of Janello leads him down a path of alcoholism and depression, from which he later recovers in A.A. After a year of getting back on his feet, he decides to pay a visit to Janello's wife, Abby, whom Janello had mentioned in their conversation along with his two small boys. As it turns out, Abby is a real-estate agent who is able to get Buddy's ad firm a nice piece of property, thereby causing them to become better acquainted with one another, and eventually falling in love.

It all looks and sounds good, but this is where the movie takes its originality and turns it into formula. What couple in any relationship doesn't go through some sort of hardship? None, but the hardships of this film are just a bit played out by now. We know that Buddy wants to come clean with Abby about knowing her deceased husband, and the movie's predictability lets us know that, even before it happens, she is going to reject him for not telling her. I'm not going to completely give away the ending of this movie for you, so I'll put it into not-so-certain terms: if you can guess what is going to happen scene-by-scene, then you're probably correct about your predictions.

Which is what really hinders this movie's potential as an original romance: it starts out originally and then settles for a second half that follows the same pattern as any other romance you'll see. They meet each other, play the game of shy looks and modesty with one another, soon become enamored with one another, and then meet hardship which they may or may not overcome. That hardship plays out like more of a script inclusion than something convincing. It comes off looking like Abby has to separate from Buddy, instead of like a decision that her character makes based on her experiences. The movie never gives any breathing room for its characters: they never appear to be making their own decisions, but ones that are made for them.

The chemistry between Buddy and Abby is mediocre at best, with a tug-of-war between believability and plot requirement taking them down different paths in their relationship. Ben Affleck, who plays Buddy, is convincing as being both arrogant and emotional in his role, at different times, of course. Abby is played by Gwyneth Paltrow, who nicely puts her fashionable looks aside and is able to play the part of a grieving widow with a convincing demeanor. The chemistry between these two acting talents is there, but the same cannot be said for their characters due to the aforementioned story pitfalls which keep us from fully liking the characters.

"Bounce" gathers up momentum, but never takes off. The characters of the movie hve so many places to go, but the story keeps them trapped in a web of contrivance and formula. The plot needs work in its second half, as does the way it treats the actors. I did enjoy "Bounce," but I also had my reservations about its spontaneity.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome movie!
Review: I saw this movie in the theatre when it first came out and I loved it. I had to buy it April 10 when the DVD came out. If you love Gweneth you will love her in this movie, Ben is great too and I liked seeing Jennifer Grey for once!