Heartwarming tales and an inferior sequel
BOUNCE
FINDING FORRESTER
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE
102 DALMATIANS
BOUNCE***
The bod squad
In Bounce, Buddy (Ben Affleck), an ad exec, is grounded at an airport bar. He befriends television writer Greg (Tony Goldwyn), who is anxious to get home for Christmas. Buddy gives Greg his ticket so that he can stay behind and score with a bar pickup (Natasha Henstridge), a fateful move that ends up with Greg seated in a plane destined to crash. It takes a year plus alcohol rehab before Buddy can meet Greg’s widow, Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow), to make amends. He arranges for his company to help her, thus discharging his debt. But Abby is attracted to Buddy, and the feeling is mutual. As circumstance transforms him from a hotshot into a human being, Buddy realizes his tragic secret must emerge. Though writer-director Don Roos’ plot resembles the 1998 Harrison Ford turkey Random Hearts, Bounce is a decent romance. The dialogue is a cut above the norm and the film’s chemistry is enhanced by the real “on again/off again” Affleck/Paltrow romance that is fodder for the tabloids.
FINDING FORRESTER****
Finding Oscar?
Bronx teenager Jamal (Rob Brown) is a basketball star and a brilliant student. On a dare one night, he breaks into the apartment of a local recluse notorious for scanning the neighborhood with binoculars. Confronted by the tenant, William Forrester (Sean Connery), he drops his backpack, which contains samples of his writing. When he gets them back, they’ve been graded and, in some cases, praised. Mustering up the courage to ask for further assistance — especially since his test scores have earned him a scholarship to a posh prep school — he gets to know gruff, solitary William who, he eventually learns, is actually a famous novelist who’d disappeared after publishing the great American novel in the 1950s. Before long, of course, the two become fast friends: the older man playing the mentor of a youth he believes has great talent, and the boy encouraging the writer to confront his past and venture back into society. Soon, Jamal crosses an autocratic professor, who accuses him of plagiarism.
To his critics, director Gus Van Sant has turned in a “Good Will Hunting in the Bronx.” Finding Forrester is hardly saccharine-free, but it’s played with a disarming candidness that makes even its most predictable patches endurable. Van Sant was wise to pass over experienced actors in favor of Brown, who, without any acting experience, had auditioned for a role as an extra, in order to pay his telephone bill. Pick up the phone — it’s Oscar calling.
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE***
Par for the course
Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon) is a one-time wunderkind golfer who imploded after World War I, and spent the 1920s drinking and gambling. He lost interest in Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron), who has since channeled her energies into helping her father create an exclusive golf resort. The dream dies when her father’s financial ruin induces him to commit suicide, but she conceives a plan to revive it. She convinces two pro golfers to play an exhibition at the resort. The community forces Adele to invite a third golfer to represent the area. The only possible choice is Junuh, who doesn’t want to return to golf, which would mean returning to the real world. Three people encourage him: Adele, a boy named Hardy (J. Michael Moncrief), who dreams about golf, and Bagger Vance (Will Smith), a caddy who appears out of nowhere and devotes himself to the rehabilitation and education of Rannulph Junuh. The Legend of Bagger Vance, with its rather traditional road to redemption, is not as moving as director Robert Redford’s best film, A River Runs Through It, but the story is credible and beautiful to behold. It’s a hole in one!
102 DALMATIANS**
Who let the dogs out?
The sequel to 101 Dalmatians starts with a clever premise: a rehabilitated Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close) now adores animals. Upon her parole, she puts away her fur coats and rescues a failing animal shelter. She even asks to be called “Ella.” Everyone is impressed, except her probation officer (and Dalmatian owner), Chloe Simon (Alice Evans). Soon a prison psychologist makes a frightening discovery: his patients revert to their old ways when they hear bells. When Cruella is rocked with the boom of Big Ben, pups are again in peril. Cruella teams up with French furrier Jean Pierre Le Pelt (Gerard Depardieu), whom she has asked to make her a dog-skin coat. Cruella revives her old plans and schemes to kidnap the spotted dogs. As she has added a hood to her evil coat design, she now requires 102 Dalmatians. Directed by Kevin Lima, this production is outrageous, bolstered by a hammy Close, the animals and the computer-generated effects. 102 Dalmatians is comparable to its predecessor, but, to Disney purists, is still overshadowed by the original animated feature. As adult fare, this film is a bow-wow, but for the kiddies, it’s tail-wagging fun. <<<
