Great Film: The Big Bounce
The Big Bore
Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson) has a tendency for bad decisions and bad luck,
including ending up on the wrong side of the law, so he's fled to
Hawaii. Unfortunately, his luck is going just as badly there. He hits
his boss, loses his job, and is thrown in jail. After he gets out, he
sees Nancy Hayes (Sara Foster) and falls for her, even though she's the
mistress of an island bigwig, Ray Ritchie (Gary Sinise), and then some.
Together they hatch a scheme to rip-off Ritchie, but how many people
are involved, and how?
Was it that this large, talented cast was just looking for a paid
vacation in Hawaii? I've liked most of the cast's previous films--I've
seen tens of them from each principal cast member, and think there have
only been a few I would pan. I've liked all of the adaptations of
writer Elmore Leonard's work that I've seen so far (although
admittedly, I haven't seen anywhere near the majority). But The Big
Bounce is just a big, boring mess. I haven't seen any of screenwriter
Sebastian Guiterrez or director George Armitage's previous work, so
maybe we can blame them.
The biggest problem is that nothing much happens in the film for over
half of its length, and when something does happen (primarily at the
very end of the film), it is so poorly constructed that it's not very
clear what's going on. Most of the film is more of a realist drama
about, well, nothing, where Armitage seems to have directed his cast to
say all of their lines with bizarre pauses, like they're severe
asthmatics, and where Guiterrez' dialogue seems to primarily consist of
banalities and non-sequiturs. There were a few moderately funny bits
(the break-in at the cop's house, Bob Jr. (Charlie Sheen) visiting
Nancy at an awkward time), but even those weren't laugh-out-loud
hilarious when they should have been, and more often than not the
script's attempts at humor fell flat, as did its attempts at realistic
dialogue, intrigue, and just about everything else.
The large cast is primarily wasted. The only person not cruelly
underused is Owen Wilson, and Wilson seems to be at a loss with the
material. There are some nice shots of scenery, even if a lot of them
are composites. I also thought the soundtrack songs were okay to good.
I haven't read Leonard's book yet, but I can't imagine that it's as
uneventful, dull and ultimately confusing as this film. Even if it
were, surely a script could be constructed out of the material that
gradually weaves the various main characters' threads in a compelling
and humorous way, leading up to an exciting twist ending. But such a
script isn't to be found here.
Even if you're a big fan of the cast or Leonard, The Big Bounce is only
worth watching to demonstrate that talented ingredients will not
necessarily produce a successful film.
Cast
- Lou Harris played by Vinnie Jones
- Walter Crewes played by Morgan Freeman
- Jack Ryan played by Owen Wilson
- Ray Ritchie played by Gary Sinise
- Bob Rogers, Jr. played by Charlie Sheen
- Hawaiian Priest played by Butch Helemano
- Frank Pizzarro played by Gregory Sporleder
