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It's the opposite of "The Opposite of Sex," a meditation on multiple truths, and the lies that sometimes lie in between.
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Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow are so immensely appealing, and their chemistry together is so unforced, that their presence alone makes a movie worth seeing. Thankfully, Bounce has even more going for it.
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Something is missing in Bounce, the muted dynamic of which calls forth a perhaps inevitably muted reaction.
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For the first time since "Chasing Amy," I realized why people like Ben Affleck.
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The unusually thoughtful dialogue and soul-searching performances make this romantic drama seem deeper than it is.
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In movies with this story structure, all depends on the precise timing of the delay and the revelation, and Bounce misses. Not by a lot, but by enough.
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Doesn't really work when examined in the daylight outside the theater doors.
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The movie is well acted, deeply moving, and unlike some love stories, it doesn't feel forced or contrived.
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Moments of strained mirth indicate how false and fabricated the whole enterprise really is--just a couple of well-to-do superstars doing their darnedest to prove to us that they're regular folk. And failing.
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Watching Bounce, you look at him (Affleck) and believe how much he's got at stake, and you look at Paltrow and know why.
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There's no way out of the excruciating melodrama, and the film withers in its trap.
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While Bounce may mark a sophomore slump for Roos, it's hardly the worst date movie out there.
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So relentlessly vanilla that it never springs to life.
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Thrillingly unpredictable.
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Affleck and Paltrow, who've been excellent elsewhere, display less chemistry than they've shown in magazine photo shoots. Even Woody and Bo Peep had more going on between them in "Toy Story" than these two manage here.
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There's nothing in Bounce you haven't seen before, but the movie is surprisingly unsentimental, the Paltrow factor cannot be denied.
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Roos combines a sharp script with excellent performances.
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After a few movies in which Paltrow was in danger of becoming a caricature of herself, she's back in rare form.
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The most depressing date movie since "Random Hearts."
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Roos introduces the possibility that perhaps two partials add up to the whole truth, and in so doing creates a provocative love story that sticks with you long after the credits roll.
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Isn't sexy, funny, smart or fun.
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A pallid, mediocre tale that treacles its way through well-worn channels.
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Surprisingly tepid and soapy.
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If I wanted a Nora Ephron cuddle-ganza, I'd rent one.
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Flies coach instead of first class, despite a charismatic cast.
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Bounce may be far from a great film, but its pleasures are consistent enough to remind you of how few movies nowadays come anywhere close to matching it in intelligence and emotional balance.
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Beneath the plot's romantic turns lies a surprisingly complex examination of the personal and professional price of honesty; falsehoods, half-truths, little white lies and self-delusion spur most of the key plot developments, and Roos never resorts to platitudes to account for their effects.
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Truth is, Affleck and Paltrow flunk Chemistry 101. They aren't believable even as a fake couple.
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Simultaneously contrived and genuinely felt.
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It's been smoothed over plenty, but this is one creaky, rigged contraption.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 3
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Mixed: 0 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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WilfM.Sep 6, 2005