The Big Bounce [WS]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

George Armitage directs this big-screen adaptation of Elmore Leonard's The Big Bounce. Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson) is an occasional thief who tends to a judge (Morgan Freeman). A woman involved with Ray Ritchie (Gary Sinese), a real estate developer of questionable ethics, seduces Jack. Ritchie and the judge are old enemies, complicating Jack's moral dilemma when the girls asks Jack to help her double-cross Ritchie. The book was adapted once before with Ryan O'Neal in the Owen Wilson role. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Features:
  • cc
  • "The Big Bounce: A con in the Making"
  • "Wicked Waves": stunt surfer outtakes
  • "Surfing the Pipeline: Surfing in the Aloha State"
  • Theatrical trailer
  • English and French language tracks
  • Subtitles in English, Francais (dubbed in Quebec), and Espanol

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Owen Wilson - Jack Ryan
       Morgan Freeman - Walter Crewes
       Gary Sinise - Ray Ritchie
       Sara Foster - Nancy Hayes
       Willie Nelson - Joe Lurie
       Vinnie Jones - Lou Harris
       Bebe Neuwirth - Alison Ritchie
       Charlie Sheen - Bob Rogers, Jr.
       Harry Dean Stanton - Bob Rogers Sr.
       Andrew Wilson - Ned Coleman
       Steve Jones - Dick
       Anahit Minasyan - Virginia (No. 9)
       Gregory Sporleder - Frank Pizzarro
       Wendy Thorlakson - Wendy the Party Planner

• Director:

  George Armitage

• Producer:

  Steve Bing, Jorge Saralegui

• Book Author:

  Elmore Leonard

• Screenwriter:

  Sebastian Gutierrez

• Cinematographer:

  Jeffrey Kimball

• Composer (Music Score):

  George S. Clinton

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Dana Sano

• Editor:

  Brian Berdan, Barry Malkin

• Production Designer:

  Stephen Altman

• Art Director:

  John Bucklin

• Co-producer:

  Channing Dungey

• Executive Producer:

  Zane Weiner, Brent Armitage

• Set Designer:

  Chris Spellman

• Costume Designer:

  Betsy Cox, Tracy Tynan

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Richard Bryce Goodman

• First Assistant Director:

  Gary Marcus

• Casting:

  Mali Finn

• Second Unit Director:

  Brent Armitage

REVIEW:

• The Big Bounce is passable entertainment, but it never lives up to its promise. George Armitage, who nailed Charles Willeford's down-and-dirty sardonic tone in the woefully underseen Miami Blues and found the right mood for the tricky screenplay of Grosse Point Blank, would seem to have a feel for this kind of darkly comic material, supplied by the redoubtable Elmore Leonard (and adapted by screenwriter Sebastian Gutierrez). The cast is impressive, with amiable goofball leading man Owen Wilson providing quirky energy and newcomer Sara Foster surprisingly effective as the surfer-girl femme fatale (though this is a softer version of the character in Leonard's novel). The scenery is plenty lush, but the film's narrative drive seems to get lost in the Hawaiian surf. The plot is weak by caper standards, and a strong supporting cast is pretty much wasted. Minor characters that need to be fleshed out in order to hold our interest, like Morgan Freeman's laid-back judge and Bebe Neuwirth's alcoholic rich man's wife, are held in check to provide "surprising" story payoffs that will likely leave viewers scratching their heads. Armitage is usually sure-handed with incidental music (think of the way "Spirit in the Sky" juices the opening of Miami Blues, or of the clever use of cheesy 1980s hits in Grosse Point Blank), but he makes a huge gaffe here in using the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing" in one scene, evoking Steven Soderbergh's far superior Leonard adaptation, Out of Sight. While The Big Bounce ambles along pleasantly enough, that unfortunate musical cue calls to mind how much better it could have been. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi