Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as a fortyish mother of two who must start her life over when her husband wants a divorce. She moves to New York City with her two children and hires a nanny (Justin Bartha), but eventually the younger man proves to be a genuine romantic possibility for the lonely divorcee. Directed by Bart Freundlich. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Although it bears the marks of studio intervention, much of the blame remains firmly with Freundlich, who's incapable of arranging a single honest moment in this uncomfortable, frightfully strained creation.
The Rebound offers up surprisingly nice characters (too nice, you could argue) and a modest charm that compensates for a lack of big laughs or much suspense.
Laughs are in short supply, and Mr Freundlich resorts to gross-out lavatory humour that's an unnecessary concession to youthful audiences who wouldn't like this movie anyway.
Why is a movie that's trying to evoke some of the cool metropolitanism of late-'70s Woody Allen so rammed with hoary gags about New York being awash with transvestites and homeless flashers?
There is much about The Rebound that does not work, but you can't help giving it some credit for attempting to roam slightly outside the scope of most rom-coms, even if it can't entirely pull it off.
The romantic trials of two wealthy, good-looking people, whose only barriers to happiness are their own petty insecurities, become tedious, and it's not helped by some stilted dialogue and awkward, mannered performances.
There are a few funny lines - especially when she goes on a cringey date with a slimy chiropractor - but there are also too many unlikely scenarios and clunky dialogue.
The positives of The Rebound vastly outweigh the minor criticisms. It's also not afraid to adopt a sudden tonal shift at a key juncture of the plot, which works fairly well.
ven slap-bang in the middle of the worst year for romcoms in living memory, The Rebound deserves a special boot up the backside for its raging incompetence.
It's not side-splittingly funny, or exactly emotionally trenchant, but Zeta-Jones and Bartha are both decidedly charming, even if there's a notable lack of sexual chemistry between them.
Watchable romantic comedy, enlivened by good dialogue, strong performances and likeable characters, though it occasionally struggles to find the right tone and is let down by a hideously contrived ending.
A charming and observant tone helps lift this above most romantic comedies, at least until the formula kicks in during the final rather contrived act. But until then, it keeps us happily smiling and sighing along.
An utterly predictable entrant in the Cougedy genre sees a yummy-mummy (Zeta-Jones) and her 25 year-old babysitter (Bartha) tumble into love after she takes her two young children to a new life in New York.
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