The Rebound

By Robert L Sungte

English (A)

Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha

Director: Bart Freundlich

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Sandy, a smart 40-year-old mother of two, trying to recover from a broken marriage. Sandy leaves for New York to work in a sports television network. However, her new job forces her to hire a nanny to look after her kids, and she chooses 25-year-old Aram (Bartha) who works as cafe boy near her apartment.

As the film rolls by, we get to know that Aram is also a divorcee who is yet to figure out what he wants to do with his life. Soon, he gets attached to Sandy and the kids. Everything goes smoothly until the unlikely couple calculate their age.

This romcom is more of a romantic film and not much of a comedy. The kids are used to generate crude adult humour. The gags are simply not striking enough to help the audience decide whether they should laugh or just pull a face. Except for Aram’s reluctant parents and the confrontation with Sandy’s ex-husband, there is little to grip the attention. The over simplification of Sandy and Aram’s relationship is simply to bring forth the realisation that they are on the rebound track from their previous breakups. A more risky twist could have been more engaging.

Zeta-Jones stands firmly on her heels but can’t beat herself in her last film ‘No Reservation’. Bartha (of ‘The Hangover’ ) is also not convincing as the young man with noble deeds. Visually, the film is sharp and unknown characters appear just as in the normal day to day life bringing a sense of realness.

‘The Rebound’ is fresh, yet it stinks too quickly to enjoy the flavour.

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