The Big Bounce (2004) December 14, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: George Armitage
What a terrible time I’m having with confidence crime-comedies at the moment. Not long after seeing Steve Coogan (a solid favourite of mine) show up in a rather weakly plotted scam movie, I’m now sitting down to write about another actor who I usually enjoy watching, Owen Wilson, in an equally lazy effort. However, Wilson is not the only ‘name’ actor who appears in this muddled affair, with Charlie Sheen, Gary Sinise and the usually reliable Morgan Freeman all taking roles. Hats off to the casting agent – it looks like they managed to pull off the biggest scam of all.
Set in the tropical paradise of Hawaii, this tale begins with Jack Ryan, a small-time criminal and con artist, losing his construction job on a worksite of local tycoon Ray Ritchie. Considering leaving, Jack is persuaded to stay by local judge Walter Crewes who offers him a job as well as a way to potentially get back at Ritchie. After teaming up with Nancy Hayes, one of Ritchie’s dissatisfied flings, Jack becomes tangled up in a mess of double crossing and hidden motives that leave him second-guessing everyone around him.
The story is, quite frankly, a mess. It starts off perfectly well and with fine intentions as it sets up its major characters and the kind of people they are (good or bad). You know it’s only happening so that some of them can turn on you later but that’s to be expected. The problem is that once the heist really gets going and the ‘twists’ start appearing, you start to realise that the story has stopped making sense. Or, more accurately, that it has stopped trying to make sense and hands out spurious motivations to people that really didn’t need to be involved. I’m still a little confused about what the point of it all was for some characters, while Walter’s knowing line “sometimes things are exactly as they appear” has little relevance to a plot that is neither ‘exactly as it appears’ nor the opposite of what you expect.
So the story is this film’s major failing but more disappointing, at least for me anyway, is the fact that this is the only movie to be helmed by director George Armitage since the sublime Grosse Pointe Blank (a film now celebrating its 10th anniversary). Of course, what Blank had was a razor sharp script and some fantastic characters, both of which are lacking here in a screenplay by the primarily horror genre writer Sebastian Gutierrez (Gothika, Rise) and based on the novel by Elmore Leonard. It’s notable that Leonard is no stranger to his books becoming films, with recent examples of his work on screen in the form of Get Shorty, Jackie Brown (the novel is ‘Rum Punch’) and Out of Sight. Quite the come-down this must have been then.
The actors try their best in roles which actually fit their personalities well. Owen Wilson gets to be a reckless surfer dude, while Morgan Freeman dispenses sage advice and takes Wilson’s character under his wing. Meanwhile, Gary Sinise is the wealthy, arrogant island mogul and Charlie Sheen plays slightly more subservient than normal as his aide. Sara Foster takes the central female role (although her character is quite unlikeable), plus there’s an early Hollywood bit-part for Vinnie Jones who shows up twice to do nothing much.
There are moments in the film where the dialogue picks up and you suddenly see a bit of life breathed into a movie that is trying so hard to be bubbly and upbeat that it doesn’t bother to weigh that down by explaining its story. The colourful island setting is well captured on film, although it’s no surprise to learn that Hawaii is a beautiful place to live. In the end, whatever moments of the film you enjoy during its 88 minute length are quickly erased by an ending that will leave you wondering why you bothered at all. Novelist Elmore Leonard has said that he hated the original 1986 film-adaptation of his novel, also titled The Big Bounce. Understandably, he wasn’t too keen on this one either.
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