The Big Bounce (PG-13, 2004)

In THE BIG BOUNCE, sticky-fingered surf bum Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson) loses his job for bashing the boss with a baseball bat. He gets a new job as a sort of handyman for some bungalows owned by Judge Crewes (Morgan Freeman). He meets a beautiful woman named Nancy (Sara Foster) who has a weakness for men who have a weakness, and the next thing you know everyone is trying to double-cross everyone else over $250,000 in cash. It's supposed to be used to pay some goons to beat up the people who are protesting a development owned by a mean guy who is Nancy's boyfriend. But Nancy wants Jack to steal it. "All you have to do," she purrs, "is walk in poor and walk out rich."

The Big Bounce wants to be comic caper movie, but the real crime is inflicted on the Elmore Leonard book credited with inspiring it. You can tell that somewhere in there there's a book with colorful characters and a couple of lines of dialogue that crackle. There is some evidence that there was an actual plot of some kind. At some point. But not now.

Wilson, who always looks like a surf bum in whatever part he is playing, finally gets to play a surf bum and is surprisingly uninteresting in the part. Foster has some spirit and Freeman's bemused spin makes his lines feel fresh and he adds a little class. But the movie feels recut by people who weren't sure what tone they were trying for, and the result is just bland.

Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: George Armitage
Cast: Charlie Sheen, Morgan Freeman, Owen Wilson
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 98 minutes
Theatrical release: January 30, 2004
DVD release: July 20, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: sexual content and nudity, violence and language