Critic Reviews
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Two movies in one -- lively when people are talking, lame when things are happening.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
I wanted [Buddy and Abby] to become lovers, which means they sold me on themselves.
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Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As a director, [Roos] brings a keen eye for character and nuance to his writer-side's lapses.
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Paul Tatara, CNN.com
What a lingering, contrived, lukewarm mess this is.
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Jay Carr, Boston Globe
Something is missing in Bounce, the muted dynamic of which calls forth a perhaps inevitably muted reaction.
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
There's isn't a single dishonest, movie-ish thing about it, no missteps, and that's because Roos keeps things unconventional.
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Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
The very premise of Bounce sounds suspect, so it's a credit to Roos' writing that he largely overcomes his own dubious plotline and fashions a fairly involving love story.
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Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Entertaining story of fate, alcoholism, and love.
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Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
The fact that it remains watchable and enjoyable is a credit to its actors and its writer ...
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Michael Dequina, Movie Poop Shoot
What should have been graceful understatement instead reads as lifeless detachment.
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Judith Egerton, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Affleck and Paltrow seem to be enjoying their roles far more than we do.
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Ron Wells, Film Threat
Seems too slight and shallow to really work as a drama.
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Susannah Breslin, Film Threat
Heavy-handed, unbelievable, predictable, and when without Gwenyth, a not very exciting film to find oneself bouncing ultimately boredly through.
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James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
a major disappointment from writer-director Don Roos, who previously created the scathingly funny "The Opposite of Sex." ...this muddled drama is more like the opposite of interesting.
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Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Mais Que o Acaso se salva graças ao desempenho de seus protagonistas e à química existente entre estes.
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Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine
What keeps it grounded is the commitment by Roos and his cast to making the emotions of the story real.
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Karina Montgomery, Cinerina
Ben and Gwynneth, "just friends" or no, have a lovely, believable chemistry that isn't all hot sex or amusing rapid fire witticisms.
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Chris Phillips, Movieline
[Gives] us two smart, likable characters to follow.
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Michael Thomson, BBC
You can almost see the strings as the actors are manipulated into position for one more weepy scene.
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Andrew Howe, Film Written Magazine
An agreeable but ultimately insubstantial piece of fluff.
Read all 23 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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Two strangers fell in love. One knew it wasn't by chance.
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There wasn't a lot of noise with this movie, but I loved it! It was a sad, but sweet movie.
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I didn't really care for the flick. Even though Affleck is the man he put out a very plain movie that didn't have me caring at all for the characters.
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This lean, low-key story about love, fate, commitment, guilt, and spin control is a quite good date movie. Soulful performances, mushrooming compassion, and gemlike pockets of dialogue give credibility to the film's occasionally farfetched plot points.
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Just when you thought you couldn't be any more bored...
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[font=Arial][color=darkred]The romantic comedy genre is in a slum of development, it's own personal ring of hell that can be thanked by the likes of Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts. These perky poppy pharmacutical enriched stars have replaced a playing field with a paint-by-numbers… More
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The romantic comedy genre is in a slum of development, it's own personal ring of hell that can be thanked by the likes of Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts. These perky poppy pharmacutical enriched stars have replaced a playing field with a paint-by-numbers coloring book. Color in this section blue for the ignoring bastard of a boyfriend that the heroine is attached to, color this section red for some "misunderstanding" to occur that shatters the perfection of the relationship for ten minutes before a wise-cracking best friend convinces otherwise and reveals their honest true feelings, color this part yellow for ecentric yet loveable colloquial supporting relatives... etc. You hopefully get the idea. It's all been done before. But can you make a romantic comedy that sticks to the aforementioned rules but is still enjoyable - in a non-brain sucking sort of way?[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Ben Affleck plays a cocky ad guru with malicous flair. He's brimming with confidance and a sly charm. One evening he encounters two strangers in an airport bar. One is a sexy blonde that Buddy works his moves to make his own layover. The other man just wants to get back to his wife and family for Christmas but his flight isn't until the next afternoon. Buddy does the honorable win-win situation and gives up his ticket. The man cheerfully thanks Buddy for his generosity and beams about on his way toward the flight home. Buddy beams about on his way back toward a hotel bedroom. That is until he flips on the TV to see a news report of flaming reckage that was supposed to be his plane.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The realization of his close encounter with death and the grief of sending another man to replace him takes its toll. Buddy becomes an alcoholic and beligerant at an awards special where his agency is responsible for spinning the crash for the airline. After some time spent to recover buddy feels the personal need to search for the widow of the man he exchanged tickets with and see if she is doing okay. His widow is played by a brunette Gwyneth Paltrow and little do each think that they will fall in love with one another.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Granted, the story and all the so-called surprises that happen in it are telegraphed much sooner than their arrival. We know he'll fall for her, we know she'll find out, we know there'll be a blow out, we know there will be a reconciliation. We just know. What makes 'Bounce' surge from the formula is the ability of the actors and the wit of writer/director Don Roos. The sophomore film from the man who gave us 'The Opposite of Sex' and lesser screenplays shows controlled and understated direction when dealing with the emotions of his characters.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Affleck quite possibly is showing his finest acting work yet. His Buddy runs the transformation of cocky socialite to a man haunted by grief and weary of his advances on the woman he accidently widowed. The chemistry between Gwyneth and Affleck is electric and they mesh together very postively. In my later review of 'Proof of Life' I mentioned how because Ryan and Russel Crowe fooled around during film that it didn't transpire to anything on film. Well the past relationship of the two leads here sure as hell allows for some sizzle. Paltrow is quite fine as a harrowed widow trying to raise her boys. A scene where she slowly discovers the truth of her husband's fate is wrenching. She also looks good as a brunette.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Roos may have to still play by the rules of romantic comedies but at least he utilizes skill to come away with something that doesn't seem like 'Pretty Woman' meets 'Random Hearts'. And you know what 'Random Hearts' could have used to make it a little livlier? A supporting performance by Johnny Galecki of course. Well, then again - nothing could save that movie.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B [/color][/font]
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An improbable love story that revolves around the burden of guilt felt by those who have been touched by tragedy. Buddy (Ben Affleck), an ad-man, gives up his seat on a flight from Chicago to LA to a man trying to get home to his family. The plane goes down, leaving Buddy with a… More
An improbable love story that revolves around the burden of guilt felt by those who have been touched by tragedy. Buddy (Ben Affleck), an ad-man, gives up his seat on a flight from Chicago to LA to a man trying to get home to his family. The plane goes down, leaving Buddy with a boatload of guilt. He eventually goes to check on the family and meets and falls in love with the widow, Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow). Neither of them is entirely truthful and the dramatic tension is supplied when the truth comes out, as it must. Fine acting, an emotional story, and a solid supporting cast captured this viewer. Classic boy meets girl tale with a somber twist. Four and a half stars.
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Honesty and forgiveness are themes in this sweet chick flick.
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This movie is easy going and maybe a little bit boring. The plot was good and so were the actors. I like Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow but this movie does not reflect their greatest performances.This is a story about two men who switch plane tickets and when the one plane crashes… More
This movie is easy going and maybe a little bit boring. The plot was good and so were the actors. I like Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow but this movie does not reflect their greatest performances.This is a story about two men who switch plane tickets and when the one plane crashes and kills the passengers on board, the other man feels horrified and guilty, so he decides to find the deceased man's wife to tell her what happened to her husband. When he meets with the widow he starts falling in love with her which was not what he intended. If you want something easy to watch for a Sunday afternoon, this one would be a good choice.
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Bounce was just a failure and it was hard to point out what made it a bad movie, maybe it was too sloppy and not enough useful in everything that was involving about it. It had such a predictable story and it was not going anywhere. The story never became emotional or engaging. You… More
Bounce was just a failure and it was hard to point out what made it a bad movie, maybe it was too sloppy and not enough useful in everything that was involving about it. It had such a predictable story and it was not going anywhere. The story never became emotional or engaging. You don't care for the characters and anything else that was happening. The plot was bad, it was like an original movie with unrealistic ingredients. It did not work here and it made the story to be far from interesting.Gwyneth Paltrow gave her best efforts but it was like a waste of time to me. Most of the other actors did not seem at place, they were not helped by an unrealistic writing and a bad dialog.
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Cute but really sad movie. Some of the parts were kinda long, but I liked it for the most part.
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Heartfelt - one of the better Ben Affleck movies.
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Read all 14 featured audience ratings
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