THE REBOUND
u/a; DRAMA/ROMANCE
Dir: Bart Freundlich
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha
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What's it about: He's 25 and separated from his French wife, but Aram Finklestein (Bartha) doesn't look the part of the moping cuckold whose wife left him for her 'brother', just so she could get a green card. He's too nice, so he won't divorce her (which would mean her getting deported). Of course, it doesn't help that he watches French movies that keep reminding him of her.
Sandy (Zeta-Jones), a 40-something housewife, on the other hand has separated from a cheating husband. She's every bit the obsessive-compulsive go-getter we saw in No Reservations. After she ups and leaves for the city, kids et al, it's surprising how quickly she gets back on her feet, gets a job and apartment and gets on with her life.
The twain meet and there's an instant spark...
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What's hot: The film is just 96 minutes long and there's a slight lull in between, as far as the action onscreen goes. Otherwise, this romp of a romcom goes the entire gamut, though keeping it largely real for the most part. While CZJ plays gorgeous cougar to the hilt, Bartha comes off quite sincere. The children are not annoying props, for a change. The humour ranges from the subtle (a rabbi eating at a Chinese joint and talking in metaphors, Aram thinking up Jewish names for his to-be child) to the in-your-face (an obviously butch self-defence instructor telling a woman who has just revealed she's lesbian to meet her after class, CZJ'su00a0 trash-talking son and dissection- obsessed daughter, the American Idol gameplaying, etc).

What's not: There's objectionable scenes and language used around and by children. Not one to watch with the family if you've haven't had the birds-and-bees conversation yet with the li'l ones, or if you don't want the impressionable bachchas to pick up the language. Everyone else might enjoy this.u00a0u00a0u00a0