The Big Bounce (2004)

Director:

George Armitage

Writers (WGA):

Elmore Leonard (novel)
Sebastian Gutierrez (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Comedy

Tagline:

It's all in who you trust

Plot:

A small-time con artist and a Hawaiian real estate developer's mischevious, enterprising mistress team up for a potential $200,000 score.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Taunting | Scam | Panties | Unhappy Marriage

Cast

Owen Wilson	...	Jack Ryan
Butch Helemano	...	Hawaiian Priest
Charlie Sheen	...	Bob Rogers, Jr.
Vinnie Jones	...	Lou Harris
Gregory Sporleder	...	Frank Pizzarro
Terry Ahue	...	Jimmy Opono (as Terry L. Ahue)
Pete Johnson	...	Con Nuuiwa
Mike Renfro	...	Worker #1
Tony Dorsett	...	Worker #2
Brian L. Keaulana	...	Barry Salu (as Brian Keaulana)
Morgan Freeman	...	Walter Crewes
Willie Nelson	...	Joe Lurie
Andrew Wilson	...	Ned Coleman
Sara Foster	...	Nancy Hayes
Gary Sinise	...	Ray Ritchie

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and nudity, violence and language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:14 | USA:PG-13 (edited for re-rating) | USA:R (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40396)

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Shangri-La Entertainment

Trivia:

The finished PG-13 rated film appears to have a great deal of censoring from what was probably originally cut as an R film. As such several "f" words are overdubbed with much less strong words (with their mouths visibly saying something else). Also, it appears the romance between Jack and Nancy had been toned down slightly by removing scenes and moments that appear in the film's theatrical trailer.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jack is being freed from jail, the officer’s clipboard goes in and out of his hands and the scene.

Quotes:

Bob Rogers, Jr.: You know, if I wasn't with someone, I might just pick your ass up and carry you out of here.
Jack Ryan: You might have to if Walter here keeps buying me beer. He's getting me all liquored up, I'm just trying to keep my wits about me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Entourage: Talk Show (#1.3)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Little Bit More

Garbage Like This Gives Modern Films A Bad Name

It's movies like this that give modern-day films a reputation as "garbage," especially among classic-film lovers. I try to defend today's movies to them when they tell me today's movies are all morally bankrupt. Well, in this case, I have no rebuttal. I agree, this is another example of a modern effort that puts too much stock on the sleaze and winds up on the weak side of being classy. It's also another good example of a PG-13 movie that should have been rated "R." There are tons of examples of that in the last 15 years. Parents: be more leery of PG-13 than another rating.

Usually, a movie that features crime and comedy is going to be either really good or really bad, depending on the quality of the jokes. Here, very little was funny and by halfway, I could care less about the crime angle. If you are to inject humor into a heist story, make sure it works, or you are going to wind up with a mess like this. Also, the movie seemed to be more of an environmental propaganda piece than anything else. Did Al Gore have a hand in this? It would explain how boring this wound up and all the bias. It just looks as if the filmmakers didn't know what direction go to and wound up with a sub-par performance in all the categories.

Owen Wilson plays a smart-ass surfer dude. If his character "Jack Ryan" is the hero of this film, it's no wonder I got turned off in a hurry. I didn't find him a "likable guy," as some others did: just a wise guy who had the cute answers to everything. I have found Wilson to be similar to the crime-comedy genre: he's either very entertaining or very annoying.

Speaking of actors, I was very disappointed to see two of my favorites - Gary Sinise and Morgan Freeman - involved with this turkey.

I don't blame Wilson for everything. He didn't write the dialog. He didn't cast Sara Foster as the lead female. He didn't write a screenplay in which none of the characters are likable enough for us to care about them. At least I have company as I see most other reviewers here thought this movie stunk, too.