Posted: 02/10/2012

The Rebound

by Elaine Hegwood Bowen

Upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, Sandy, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, and her two kids move from the suburbs to pursue a new life in the big city. There she meets Aram, played by Justin Bartha, a local coffee shop employee whose wife only married him as a means to getting her green card. The two strike up a friendship which eventually evolves into something more. But it isn’t long before they’re faced with the big question - “Is this real or just a rebound?”

The Rebound is a cute movie; Sandy is overwhelmed with her maternal and personal lives. She takes a job, after having not worked, and she has always had an affinity for sports. She gets a job as a fact checker at a sports station, but she also needs a nanny to help with the kids. She hires Aram, who is about 15 years her junior, and the inevitable happens—they fall in love.

Jones is good in this role, and the two children, a boy and a girl, while precocious, are very funny, as well. They make references to a bum urinating on the street and think their mom has also been a target of urination, when they find her in a compromising position with Aram. Aram is cautious at first but falls deep later. His parents want him to find a good job in economics, and they keep feeding him leads, but he’s content with just working somewhere and doing something that values him.

In the end, after a false pregnancy jolts the two back to reality, they break up. Aram goes off to see the world, and Sandy goes back to dating men whom she terms are losers. After about five years, they meet up again, and circumstances and chemistry compel them to throw caution to the wind and re-start a relationship that I think should have not been interrupted in the first place.

The Rebound also features fantastic supporting performances from Lynn Whitfield, John Schneider and music legend Art Garfunkel.

The Rebound is available now on Blu-ray and DVD. Visit foxconnect.com for more information.

Elaine Hegwood Bowen is an editor, writer and film critic in Chicago, who also serves as a news editor for FilmMonthly.com.

Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com