What a great story. Wonder if this has actually happened in real life: man decides NOT to board a plane, gives a free ticket to a dad who desperatedly wants to go home on christmas eve and the plane crashes.Guilt. That is what drives Ben Affleck in this movie, being the guy who gave away his ticket to this dad at christmas eve, unknowingly signing his death ticket. Ben Affleck lives, the dad dies. Out of sheer guilt Ben Affleck tries to do good and secretly finds out who the widow is(Gwyneth Paltrow). He wants to ease his guilt by giving the widow a job that will give her a big salary, so she can provide for herself and her kids. Gwyneth Paltrow doesnt know that Ben Affleck was indirectly the cause of her husband's death. With the best intentions Ben Affleck is now secretly interferring in her life. Can Ben Affleck ease his guilt? Will the widow find out the real reason behinds Ben's help?This story could have easily become very sentimental, but it didnt. This story could easily have become unbelievable, but the dialogues and the script are true to life. Acting is magnificent. One of Affleck's and Paltrow's best roles in their entire carreer. Seen this gem many times now and it is here to stay. Sweet tragedy, really sweet. But as I said earlier what makes this movie so attractive and endearing is the true to life approachment of the story. It really COULD have happened the way it is portrayed here. And credibility is paramount when I truly wanna enjoy a movie. Ideal movie for anybody (family, date, loners) who just wants to get romantically swept away of their feet...

I wouldn't see this movie ever again if if they paid me (which they do). For a romantic comedy there seems to be one missing ingredient: the romance of course. The chemistry between Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck was sadly absent. It's too bad, really because they're two very wonderful performers and both have great experience starring in romantic comedies. It just wasn't present in "Bounce". It feels forced and unnatural at times almost as though they're just reading lines off the script. But I can't hold the blame to both Paltrow and Affleck, or the screenwriters and the dialogue was executed immaculately, but the spark just never made its mark. The two setbacks for "Bounce" are what really hurt this movie very badly and it comes from both the characters and what the intentions of the plot. The characters tend to lack a certain panache towards its audience even though many of the characters are in perilous situations that makes them yearn for our sympathy. Affleck seems to have more of a guilty conscious over Paltrow's late husband looks diluted over sympathetic. The villainy of Affleck's character is one of the most clichéd description of how movie villains come across; manipulative, determined and ready to grab at any opportunity given to him. During his 16 years acting career, Affleck is nothing more than an thespian cliché, an evil advertising executive and a human being rotten to the core. Overall his character comes off stale: a bad person that somehow manages to manipulate us into thing he's a pretty cool likable guy. His wallowing into self-pity never fully swallows you up and at times it feels very forced. Paltrow is no better either. At times you want to console with her, but it never fully catches on. Another badly drawn trait is the delivery of a fully functional plot twist. The savior of the story stems from the it could happen to anyone factor but that was already given out in the trailers making this movie virtually pointless. If they would've stuck to this intention instead of taking advantage of Paltrow's character than this movie could've made the difference. So instead they just shoved the plot device in cheaply.For those looking for a decent romantic comedy, well guess what? Keep looking! In the end it offers nothing special, heart warming or inspirational. It felt like watching one of the more mundane episodes of Maury Povich. Even the drama elements look too forced to have anything redeemable.

Ben Affleck is a drunk who, out of a spirit of inebriated generosity, switches tickets with another passenger on a crowded flight, allowing the man to get home and visit his child. The airplane falls down, as airplanes are wont to do, and the man is killed. A dried-out Affleck feels compelled to look up the man's widow, Gwyneth Paltrow, and tell her the story. Instead, he falls for her and holds back his secret. It's understandable that he finds her desirable. She's Gwyneth Paltrow as a brunette. When the big reveal finally rolls around there is heartbreak to spare.I almost feel I ought to apologize for not liking the movie. It's like not liking a child's finger painting. See that dendritic structure? That's Junior's tree. The long part at the bottom is the trunk. You can tell because it's brown. And that green ball at the top? The leaves.What sex is to pornography, what blood is to action movies, emotional highs followed by crashes followed by highs are to this higher-budget afternoon domestic drama.Here's some dialog. "You can either say good-bye and leave now, or you can leave without saying good-bye," sobs Paltrow through her tears.The fact that Affleck gave the other fellow his own ticket is treated as a shameful act. Affleck is made to keep it a secret as long as is consistent with a full-length feature movie. When he vomits out the terrible truth, he hems and haws and acts as if he, Affleck, had personally strangled the guy in order to get at the wife he hasn't yet met.It's not insulting in that it doesn't propagate some fantastic notion like wiping out everyone we dislike or having unprotected sex with a Nigerian prostitute. It's just ultimately boring, like pornography and action movies. However, it must be said that movies about sex or gore have their fans, and this one probably will find an audience too, but I wouldn't be among them. I have this tendency to drift off.

While at the airport bar waiting for their planes, ad exec Ben Affleck gives his ticket to a family man anxious to get home to his wife and kids; after the plane crashes, Affleck checks up on the man's widow, even helps get her work, before falling in love with her--and also before disclosing he has something to tell her, something important...but it can wait until tomorrow. As written and directed by Don Roos, "Bounce" follows such a formulaic pattern that everything in it is fraudulent. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the bereaved with a certain amount of sophisticated grace, but her character is always on the verge of making a hasty exit and her dialogue smacks of too-smart little observations thick with script-writer's ink. Affleck is always on the verge of finding a character--and failing (even when he has tears welling up in his eyes, nothing Affleck says or does quite rings true). The picture doesn't exist in any kind of reality--nothing in it appears natural--with decorative city and beach settings that may very well be stock shots. The character conflicts don't balance out for us emotionally, and when Paltrow kicks Affleck out of her house in front of her two kids, she's suddenly so embittered and vindictive that we can't recover from it in time for the finale. There's also the proverbial gal-pal for Paltrow and gay assistant for Affleck who both dish out that kind of 'it-hurts-but-it's-good-for-you' advice prone to romance weepies. It's an assembly-line chick flick for viewers who bounce unceremoniously from one of these movies to the next. ** from ****