by Frank Wilkins
Big Bounce is the second film adaptation from the 1969 Elmore Leonard novel of the same name. This modern day caper within a caper fails to resemble anything close to Leonard's original vision, nor to the previous screen adaptation. Rather than taking place on Leonard's "thumb" of Michigan, our cool, trendy characters frolic on Oahu's North Shore of Hawaii. When pressed by the Philadelphia Inquirer Elmore said about the movie: "I can't figure out what it's about," he says. "They keep cutting away to surfers, which has nothing to do with the story." Folks, this should be all we need to know about this one!

Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson), a relatively nice guy with a sweet tooth for breaking and entering (call it B&E if you're cool) and for catching a nice wave every now and then, loses his construction job due to his unfortunate decision to strategically place an aluminum baseball bat to the head of his foreman (British soccer player Vinnie Jones) in order to stall the development on sacred Hawaiian land by sleazy developer Ray Ritchie (Gary Senise).

Although the assault charges against Jack are eventually dropped, the cops strongly suggest that he catch the next plane back to the mainland. But Jack decides to hang around to catch a few more waves and to try his hand at property management. It seems he's been offered a job managing bungalows by Judge Crewes (Morgan Freeman) – the very judge who would've tried him had the charges not been dropped! Add to the mix the flirtations of the developer's sexy mistress, Nancy (model turned actress, Sara Foster) who informs Jack of $250,000 in cash that just happens to be sitting in a safe, and we have the makings of a forgetful caper movie that's never smart enough to be anything more than a vehicle to allow Foster to get naked and flaunt her assets. But even in that respect, the film's PG-13 rating dooms it to failure.

The best thing about The Big Bounce is Owen Wilson. While his brand of dry wit is an acquired taste, in Bounce he brilliantly tongue-in-cheeks the innocence of Jack's "bad boy" character with his own brand of sublimely sarcastic humor. He's a bumbling, two-bit, petty criminal who's smart enough to realize his two best friends are "bad luck and bad choices", yet can't comprehend the danger of his practices. He always seems to be two or three steps behind the double-cross, but of course, in the end, the joke is supposed to be on us.

In her first major role, Sara Foster fails miserably in her bid to portray the danger and allure of her femme fatale character. She sleepwalks through her part, giving absolutely no distinction to a character with a taste for danger, stealing fast cars, and skinny-dipping in broad daylight. But then again, what should we expect? She's a model, not an actress.

A veritable who's who list of Hollywood rounds out this wasted display of talent. Topping the list of mostly throwaway roles is the aforementioned Morgan Freeman as a judge/property-owner seemingly living a life of luxury. Gary Senise as the disreputable land developer, Harry Dean Stanton and Willie Nelson as geezer domino players barely deserve mention.

The Big Bounce is more like a little wiggle appropriately placed in the middle of the dog days of the winter dumping season. That it recognizes any success at all is due to Wilson's performance coupled with the fact that the film's runtime is a mere 85 minutes. Don't waste your time.

Frank Wilkins