The Rebound

While the title may be a tad misleading, Bart Freundlich's 'The Rebound' is a refreshing romantic comedy that centres around a forty-something single mother and a 24-year old singleton. Unlike most traditional Hollywood movies of this genre, much of the humour here is subtle and it balances off well with the rest.

Freundlich also addresses the issue of age-stereotype and how it affects people. When Aram calls Sandy an ageist, it may appear petty but there is some truth to it as she just couldn't see him outside the stereotype even though her concerns are justified to an extent.

On the technical side, it's a decently made little film. The setting is New York and Freundlich cleverly steers clear of exposing too many postcard images of the city. Refreshingly paired Justin Bartha and Catherine Zeta-Jones form a very likable and convincing couple on screen. Zeta-Jones displays her growth as an actress in a mature performance and Bartha is excellent as the kind-hearted young man who's going through a lot (split up from his wife, unemployment etc) and yet decides to do the generous thing. The supporting cast is mostly adequate. Joanna Gleason is brilliant with her downplayed performance.

Overall, 'The Rebound' is a delight to watch while, at the same time it presents some interesting issues regarding age and gender stereotype. It's a great date movie and something worth considering for a rainy day.

This is one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in years. I went to see this with a friend of mine who's in his upper thirties and I'm in my mid twenties and we both laughed so hard. There's none of the commercial, fake feel some romantic comedies have, or the ones that try to be funny and are not, this is a daring romantic comedy, really in tune with our times that breaks with some stereotypes.

Great acting, both by the adults and the kids (you can't help falling in love with Justin Bartha and this is some of the best performances I've seen from Catherine Zeta Jones, like a million times better than Intolerable Cruelty), interesting storyline, nice imagery of New York City and a movie I want to see again!

I hope it gets a wide release soon.

Sandy (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a very organized, type A mother who adores her two kids. However, she catches her husband in an act of infidelity on a webcam and decides to change her life in a major way. Instead of the suburbs, she moves her family into an apartment above a Manhattan coffee shop & starts a job search. Meanwhile, getting-a-divorce Aram (Justin Bartha) is a barista at the cafe, despite having a college degree, which displeases his extremely pushy parents (Art Garfunkel and Joanna Gleason). On their advice, Aram tries a part time stint at a woman's issues agency, where he has to dress up in a protected suit and let the women vent their angers on him! One of them happens to be our Sandy, naturally. All too soon, these two meet again when she returns to her department. Needing a babysitter one day, she asks Aram to help her out. The two children, a boy and a girl, adore him so before long Aram is installed as the nanny. Also, despite the decade of age difference between S and A, they have eyes for each other. Something may be approaching, in terms of a relationship, but how can it survive when it is more of a "rebound" coupling? This is a nice flick, written and directed by a respected indie filmmaker, Bart Freundlich. He himself is married to Julianna Moore, who is a few years older than her husband. Therefore, he has good insight into a May-September relationship. Zeta-Jones and Bartha, who seem an odd couple at first evaluation, give nice performances as the afflicted twosome while all other cast members do a nice job, too. Sets, costumes, and photography are likewise quite attractive. The resolution is admirable, as it strikes a balance between a ride into the sunset and an unhappy finish. The only minor criticism is that there is some salty dialogue and scenarios that won't please the G-rated crowd, so stay away from it, if this applies to you. That said, most romcom fans will like it just fine.

I went into the movie with low expectations. Wasn't hard, given it has been slammed by most critics and the pretentious on RottonTomatoes. This was not helped by a rushed, detached start which made me feel doubtful that the movie would pick up from there.

However, The Rebound quickly takes a swift turn for the feel-good drama and I was very impressed as it became not only a light romantic comedy but more a well-thought, rounded character drama with all sorts of little sub-plots, rich character development, great performances, and a genuine likability to every part of the movie. It was just very well done and the rest did not feel rushed at all. If only it had been about 10 minutes longer at the start to get us to really feel that too, instead of brushing aside the seriousness of it as if it were a slapstick laugh-job, it would've scored another star or two.

Definitely go see it if you liked "500 Days Of Summer". And go see "500 Days of Summer" if you haven't already. Are you kidding me?!

Good May December romance movie. There are many funny laugh out loud moments in this movie. The jokes aren't clichéd and the dialog is original and fresh. Wish I could see more of Catherine Zeta Jones in movies these days. She is beautiful especially without too much makeup. Sometimes she looks too sophisticated to be in that situation but she is just a pleasure to watch on screen. It's also nice to see a woman not trying to be rail thin as she enters her forties. Justin Bartha is quite charming in this role. Although he isn't tall he can do romantic roles not just the sidekick stuff. Sometimes the dialog was a bit fast to catch. The story is feel good and not far fetched without being sentimental or predictable.