Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000

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Actually, I made a mistake in something I wrote above: this film's genre shouldn't include the word "romantic" in it at all. Of course, the mistake was really not mine; blame it on reportedly real-life lovebirds, Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, who did everything they could to convince the audience that they're Not Really Seeing Each Other. Too bad that convincing shows onscreen. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) The Moral Of The Story? Lies Are Bad. Ask Buddy (Ben Affleck) and Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow), two needy people who need to work on keeping their stories straight. When his plane got delayed in Chicago, advertising agent Buddy Amaral ("amoral", get it?) hooked up with two strangers, Greg Genello (Tony Goldwyn) and Mimi (Natasha Henstridge) to pass the time away. Wanting to Get To Know Mimi Better, Buddy gave Greg his ticket voucher - a clear breach of federal regulations, as Flight Attendant Janice Guererro (Jennifer Grey) finds out (she helped Buddy's scheme to get Greg home to his wife and kids). Fed regs would be the least of Buddy's concerns, however: after the plane - which he was supposed to be on - crashes with Greg aboard, Buddy has Deep Guilt about what happened. And, keeping with the Theme, Buddy becomes an ugly drunk, much to the dismay of his boss/business partner Jim (Joe Morgan). Still not feeling guilt-free, Buddy seeks out Greg's wife Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow), to somehow try to make up for what he did. Meanwhile, The Widow Abby has Issues of her own to deal with: namely, her unforgiving older son Scott (Alex D. Linz), her still-trusting youngest son Joey, her Nosy But Well-Meaning friend, Donna (Caroline Aaron), and a job for which Abby is not very qualified, but has to do to make ends meet. Buddy lied to Abby about how he came to find her. Abby lied to Buddy about how she lost her husband. I'd say "and, of course, Wackiness Ensues", but that'd be going against the moral of the story, I reckon. THE UPSHOT I swear, at times, watching Bounce go through its by-the-numbers paces was like watching paint dry. I'm not exaggerating. Seriously; it's in my review notes: "Here comes the Sad Guitar Music...now is the time Buddy feels Remorse..."; and after Buddy and Abby met: "Here comes the Sad Guitar Music again...now is the time for the Kiss..." And so forth. Bounce was an exercise in tedium, like watching a read-through for a play that you just know is gonna bomb. The movie - and its characters - took itself way too seriously, much to its deficit. Me, I couldn't stop snickering. What's funniest about Bounce, is that it's not even "So Bad It's Good"-worthy; this one was just...there. I'd dearly love to pick fun at the high-fallutin' "Academy Award Winner Ben Affleck...Academy Award Winner Gwyneth Paltrow" pronouncements, but the blame only partially lies with those two. More shameful was the TV Movie Of The Week script, which put words into its characters' mouths that I daresay did not belong there. C'mon, guys; do you really think people talk like that? I mean, honest-to-goodness conversations between men and women just don't sound anything like the overly-sentimental speechifying from Affleck, or the...whateverthell it was that Paltrow failed to put across. Even more than Affleck (who at least tried to show some emotion, genuine or no), Paltrow's monotone droning made me reach for a non-existent volume control button. The shame of it all was that Tony Goldwyn - one of those great actors that you recognize immediately, but never remember the name - was offed so soon. He's about the only one of the bunch that seemed to believe in what he was doing. And though Gay Friend Seth (Johnny Galecki) was animated enough, the whole feel of the movie was flat, as if the actors were all only doing what they were doing because some lame director was yelling out lame instructions at them. There was no sense of discovery, of natural progression from here to there; blink, and suddenly Things Changed, for reasons that seemed murky, character development-wise. In the end, that was just it: there was no real development; just actors, Acting. Fourth wall? Hell, I could see the fourth ceiling, fourth floor, fourth table, fourth chair... I guess I called it right, back when I first saw previews for Bounce, when I predicted it would be "Random Hearts-lite, with the mindlessness of Final Destination thrown in for bad measure". THE "BLACK FACTOR"    [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith] At this point in his career, Joe Morton seems to be the kind of "go-to" guy that Hollywood loves to use in situations that call for a solid, but "safe", Black actor. This is no slight on his part - he plays the kinds of Everyman roles that are the earmark of a good character actor - but it makes me wonder whether he's tapping his full potential yet. No, I don't need to see Yet Another 'Banger (plus, Morton's long-in-the-tooth for that), and no, I don't want to pigeonhole Morton, or any Black actor, for that fact, into "Black Roles". I just wish he would play something more than "safe", y'know? But please, Mr. Morton, not another Blues Brothers 2000, okay? BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE There's little doubt in my mind that The Grinch will bounce Bounce right out of America's theaters. That's too bad, too; with The Grinch not being strong enough to keep most adults' attention, we need an intelligent, thought- or emotion-provoking, romantic tale to escape to during this holiday season. Sorry; Bounce just ain't it. BOUNCE:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/