Posted: 02/04/2004

The Big Bounce

(2004)

by Josh Gloer

Elmore Leonard is an excellent novelist, but not all his books translate well to the screen, as this remake of the ’70s Ryan O’Neal film proves.

“Who’s Scamming Who?” The quote on the billboard asks the question as though the answer were not as obvious as the whole this film left in my wallet. It seems that through an all-star cast, the producers of The Big Bounce have attempted to “scam” the general public into seeing this disaster, yet didn’t care that no audience member could possibly leave the theatre happy.

A quirky comedy that is neither quirky nor funny enough to be called either, The Big Bounce is the story of a petty criminal who gets in over his head. While the situation never touches on anything remotely tense, it becomes difficult to understand how this is possible. The criminal, Jack Ryan played by Owen Wilson, one of several actors way too good to grace this horrendous waste of film, is fired after braining his boss with a baseball bat. He is recruited by the island judge and corrupt entrepreneur Walter Crewes (Morgan Freeman) to be a maintenance man at his sea side bungalow colony. Through a series of deliberate flirtations, he meets Nancy Hayes (Sara Foster), a woman who serves the roll of lover to almost every male in the film. Her wild side, fueled by her lust for criminals, is ignited as she learns that Ryan has served several sentences for petty crime. Thrust aside by the arrival of her lover Ray Ritchie’s (Gary Sinise) wife, Hayes grows restless, and through her sexuality, she begins to coax Ryan to indulge in a spree of worthless crimes.

Seeing Ritchie as an easy target, Ryan and Hayes formulate a plan to steal the stockpile of illegal funds Ritchie intends to use for kickbacks and pay-offs of union employees, but a bumbling Bob Rogers Jr. (also Nancy’s lover) stands in the way. Using Crewes as an alibi, Ryan sneaks to the home containing the money, but the plan falls apart as he realizes that he has been set up. Hayes, Crewes and Ritchie’s wife Allison (Bebe Neuwirth) had already decided to make Ryan the patsy for their heist. Wise to the plan, Ryan escapes with the money, but must leave behind the girl he has begun to fall for. With a little “luck” he manages to escape with one of Crewes’ bungalow tenants, a hot young woman looking for a little attention.

Or, at least that is what I think happened. This story is so muddled by confusing names, flopping loyalties and comedic scenes that just couldn’t land a single laugh that the writers could have intended this to have an entirely different plot, but one thing I am sure of, this film is terrible.

The cast of males in this film were promising enough in themselves, but these talented comedians weren’t allowed to be funny as the jokes just lacked punch lines. It was obvious where the laughs were intended to fall, but the theatre (packed with 6 or 7 people as the premiere of 50 First Dates launched across the street) remained silent save a yawn here or there. And with the heavy hitters filling up the male side of the film’s roster, it is unclear why a known femme fatal wasn’t cast opposite them. Sara Foster, while possessing an incredible sex appeal, lacks any sort of talent when it comes to acting. Although her yellow bikini might have given ticket sales a boost, her acting is sub par at best.

Elmore Leonard, the pen behind the excellent stories of Get Shorty and Out of Sight was no doubt disappointed in the outcome of his latest on screen endeavor, as was I. Many of my film reviews come to a close advising the reader to wait until the film comes out on video, but in this case, I would recommend not wasting the time to find this film on the shelves. Rent something else.

Josh Gloer is one of our LA staffers and a screenwriter.

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