Review of The Big Bounce (2004) by Paul F — 19 Jun 2005

George Armitage is probably the most underrated under-the-radar directors still working today. Only slightly more prolific than Terence Malick, he churns about about a movie or two per decade, but those films--[i]Grosse Pointe Blank, Miami Blues, Vigilante Force[/i]--are such great pieces of pulp that you can't help but admire the craftsmanship. The merging of Armitage with the tongue-in-cheek pulp fictions of Elmore Leonard should have been a natural fit, and indeed, it still could be, but in the case of [i]The Big Bounce[/i], it's a more likable time-passer than a genre classic.

Owen Wilson gives a perfectly fine performance as Jack Ryan, a low-rent thief who gets fired from his real job after swinging a baseball bat at growling boss Vinnie Jones, who reprises his role as Vinnie Jones from everything he's ever been in. He ends up befriending the local judge (Morgan Freeman) and shacks up with a rich guy's mistress (Sara Foster) who seduces him into a robbery job to get away with all of her lover's money. Twists and turns ensue and oddball characters pop up, including Charlie Sheen as a knuckleheaded hood, Bebe Neuwirth as the rich guy's wife and Willie Nelson and Harry Dean Stanton in welcome, albeit breif, cameos.

Everything is done well enough, and the acting is solid, with the performers clearly having fun. However, nothing seems the least bit threatening about anything the characters are going through. The film seems terribly sedate, flaunting sexiness but keeping within the bounds of the PG-13 rating that manages to distill any heat the film conjurs up. The only weak link in the cast is Foster, too old for the part of barely-not-jailbait depicted in the book and not enough of a screen presence to really serve as the pivotal person her character is supposed to be.

The problem is that [i]The Big Bounce[/i] is lightweight Leonard, and Armitage gives it exactly the treatment it asks for, turning it into a lightweight film with little intertia. As it's all set in Hawaii, everything has a calm, mellowing vibe, but that doesn't mean that a film about crime, scams and con artists has to be boring just because it's a tropical setting--see the underrated [i]The Mighty Quinn[/i] for how to do the mellow-yet-dangerous thing done right.

The best Leonard adaptations ([i]Jackie Brown, Out of Sight[/i]) have a great sense of cool, detached mischief, and [i]The Big Bounce[/i] lacks that, instead relying on fine actors pulling off good performances as shrug-worthy characters in situations that don't really build up to much. There are some funny moments in [i]The Big Bounce[/i], but I can't help thinking that the whole thing reeks of compromise, not just for the PG-13 rating (which didn't do the movie any favors theatrically anyway, so why not release an R version to DVD?) but for the tone of the film itself. It's still not a bad film, and it coasts long enough on the charm of Wilson in the lead, but it's certainly kind of a disappointment considering the talent involved.