The Big Bounce is a 2004 comedy heist film starring Owen Wilson, Charlie Sheen, Sara Foster and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by George Armitage and based on a novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard.
Leonard's novel had previously been adapted for the big screen in a 1969 film of the same name directed by Alex March and starring Ryan O'Neal.
Production
The setting for the film was moved from the Thumb area of Michigan, where the novel was set, to the North Shore of Oahu. The film was shot on location in Hawaii.
Plot
Jack Ryan, a surfer and occasional thief, attacks the menacing Lou Harris with a baseball bat. Harris is a foreman on a Hawaii construction site run by corrupt millionaire, Ray Ritchie. The police and Ritchie's right-hand man, Bob Rogers Jr., tell Jack to leave the island when he is released from jail.
However, Judge Walter Crewes takes a liking to Jack and offers him a job as a handyman at a small resort of beach-front bungalows he owns.
Ritchie has been cheating on his wife with a much younger mistress, Nancy Hayes, who catches Jack's eye. The judge warns him that she likes "the criminal type" and cannot be trusted. Together, they break into houses for fun and profit, then come up with a scheme to steal $200,000 from Ritchie.
Harris and Rogers attempt to get even with Jack, and it turns out that Nancy is not the only one he can't trust.
Cast
- Owen Wilson as Jack Ryan
- Morgan Freeman as Walter Crewes
- Charlie Sheen as Bob Rogers, Jr.
- Sara Foster as Nancy Hayes
- Vinnie Jones as Lou Harris
- Gary Sinise as Ray Ritchie
- Bebe Neuwirth as Alison Ritchie
- Willie Nelson as Joe
- Harry Dean Stanton as Bob Rogers, Sr.
Reception
The film has received generally negative reviews; review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 16% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 134 reviews, with an average score of 4.1/10;the consensus states: "Lazily crafted and light on substance, The Big Bounce takes few chances and strands its promising cast in a subpar adaptation that fails to do its source material justice".
Box office
This film also flopped at the American box office, grossing only $6,808,550 against its $50 million budget.
References
External links
- The Big Bounce at the Internet Movie Database
