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And so I have finally gotten around to posting last week's Pulse debate between Josiah and I about The Big Bounce. I should have posted this yesterday, but I ended up spending most of the day at Lupi's Pizza having various meetings. (None of these conferences had anything to do with either of my jobs, ROC or Pulse, come to think of it. Maybe I should work on prioritizing.) So sorry about that. I should also apologize in advance for Josiah's fascination with extended cannabis metaphors in this review, and for my massively ill-fated attempt to fit in an Eugene O'Neill reference.

Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman slouch their way through “The Big Bounce”

By Josiah Roe and Aaron Mesh
Published in the February 4-10 issue of the Pulse

Josiah: I have the sneaking suspicion that The Big Bounce, directed by George Armitage and based on the novel by Elmore Leonard, is going to be one of those cult movies you either love or hate. On one side you'll find the cadre of Leonardites, fans with posters of J-Lo & George Clooney in "Out of Sight" on their walls, swearing up and down to the brilliance of Leonard's dialogue. On the other side you'll find me, confused as to what all the hubbub is about and feeling like I just got picked last in kickball.

My early experiences with Leonard's on-screen translations notwithstanding, The Big Bounce has all the makings of a great, great movie. You've got a win-win formula with Owen Wilson has your slacker lead, Gary Sinise as a real-estate mogul villain, and an ensemble supporting cast of Morgan Freeman, Vinnie Jones, Charlie Sheen, and finally bikini-clad Sara Foster adding in some sexual shenanigans. Toss them all together in Hawaii in a plot-twisting roll reversal comedic crime drama, and you should have a rip-roaring good time.

Unfortunately for nearly all of the 84 minutes I spent watching the film I was quite bored. It's as if the entire cast and crew realized they had a winning setup and just failed to, well, try. I had no idea an entire film could be so lazy.

Aaron: Oh my, is it lazy. I don't think we could capture the mood of this movie in a conversation unless we let every sentence go unfinish...

It's not just that the plot never builds to a proper climax; each individual scene actually feels like a setup that unhurriedly trails off. There are no drugs in The Big Bounce that I can recall, but there's a hazy stoner vibe that is usually alien to Leonard's tight crime stories. The movie feels like it was directed on a very mellow buzz, one that kept the director from bothering to finish shots.

But I got a weird sort of contact high from the enterprise; the film's general insouciance charmed me. So many movies these days are hyperactive clones, pitching tantrums on the floor of the theater and screaming at you to enjoy their overblown chase montages and hackneyed sex jokes. The Big Bounce avoids these clichés -- not because it's original in any way, but because it's too indolent to bother. Maybe it says something about the state of American cinema that I was grateful for the break.

Josiah: But paying $7.50 for "The Big Bounce" is like being passed a bowl that's already been cashed. It's bad enough that there wasn't anything there to hit, but that old friends like Wilson and Freeman would be so rude as to pass me such a hollow shell of a film, it's enough to make a guy reconsider is cinematic allegiances. It kind of hurt my feelings. I trusted these guys and I ended up I feeling betrayed.

Aaron: But there are just some movies where you quickly realize that nothing of import is going to happen, so you just settle back to enjoy the scenery. In this case, I appreciated the way Wilson's shambling crook wears the same bloodstained shirt for several scenes, as if he figures the faded red fabric will hide any evidence of violence. I liked the way that Charlie Sheen's unseen wife has a personalized, profoundly annoying car horn that signals her presence. I liked Sheen, who looks more like a doppelganger of his father every day. And how can you complain about a film that features a game of dominoes between Wilson, Freeman, Harry Dean Stanton and Willie Nelson? I just wished the movie had spent more time at that dominoes game, and less time bothering with scraps of plot.

Josiah: I can complain because the film itself never seems to take the time to actually enjoy what it has going on. It's got the wonderful makings of a great movie, and then just, well, doesn't do anything with it at all. Like you said, who wouldn't want to be at a game of dominoes with all those cats? Unfortunately, the movie doesn't let the audience enjoy it any more than it seems to let its cast members. Before you know it you're off on some silly murder plot-twisting blandness more disturbing for it's apparent lack of relevance than for any sense of shock or gore or emotional...well, never mind. Who cares? That seems to be the whole ethos of the film. Who cares?

I'm looking forward to Miracle next week. At least we get to see American Capitalist hockey players beat up on Russian Communist hockey players. That's compelling, right?

Aaron: Hold on a second, Iceman! I think you’re misdiagnosing the problems with The Big Bounce. It gives its actors plenty of time to enjoy what they’re doing, it just never takes them anywhere interesting – until the last ten minutes, when improbable violence breaks out of nowhere, like Uzis at a child’s birthday party. Hey, I understand why you hated it. I just developed a certain fondness for a movie with such determined will to underachieve, to ignore expectations.

But you’re right: next week brings us bold, brave Americans on skates, as well as the start of the Independent Film Series. January is over, and we’re finally getting some good movies. At least, here’s hoping.

Josiah Roe and Aaron Mesh are two St. Elmoites who often stand outside the Bijou arguing about movies. They’re sort of like Ebert and Roeper, only without viable career prospects or functioning thumbs. Look for their film discussions each Wednesday in the Pulse.

Posted by mesh at February 12, 2004 02:29 PM | TrackBack