The Big Bounce | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | George Armitage |
Produced by | George Armitage Steve Bing |
Screenplay by | Sebastian Gutierrez |
Based on |
The Big Bounce by Elmore Leonard |
Starring |
Owen Wilson Charlie Sheen Morgan Freeman Sara Foster Gary Sinise |
Music by | George S. Clinton |
Cinematography | Jeffrey L. Kimball |
Edited by | Barry Malkin |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
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January 30, 2004 |
Running time
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88 minutes |
Language | English |
Budget | $50 million |
Box office | $6.8 million |
The Big Bounce is a 2004 comedy heist film starring Owen Wilson, Charlie Sheen, Sara Foster and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by George Armitage and based on a novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard.
Leonard's novel had previously been adapted for the big screen in a 1969 film of the same name directed by Alex March and starring Ryan O'Neal.
Jack Ryan, a surfer and occasional thief, attacks the menacing Lou Harris with a baseball bat. Harris is a foreman on a Hawaii construction site run by corrupt millionaire, Ray Ritchie. When Jack is released from jail, both the police and Ritchie's right-hand man, Bob Rogers Jr., tell Jack to leave the island. However, Judge Walter Crewes takes a liking to Jack and offers him a place to stay and a job as a handyman at a small resort of beach-front bungalows that the Walter owns. Jack has dangerous run ins with Harris, and Rogers Jr., on numerous occasions.
Ritchie has all his (substantial) property registered in the name of his wife, Alison. He is also cheating on his wife with a much younger mistress, Nancy Hayes. When Nancy catches Jack's eye, Walter warns him that she likes "the criminal type" and cannot be trusted. Jack is falling for Nancy, and the two break into houses for fun and profit.
Nancy come up with a scheme to steal $200,000 ($254,000 today) that Ritchie keeps handy for bribes and mob business. She arranges for Jack to sneak into Ritchie's house to steal the money from his safe. Jack arrives to find that Nancy has poisoned Ritchie, in a conspiracy with Alison. Nancy has set up Jack to be the Ritchie's "killer", with Alison to shoot him dead as an intruder. It turns out that the Judge is Alison's lover and has been part of the conspiracy, with the two promising to give Nancy the $200,000 for her part. Jack manages to steal the money from the safe and avoids being shot, leaving Alison and the Judge to set up Nancy as Ritchie's killer.
Alison and the Judge are seen sailing on Ritchie's massive yacht, disposing of his body in the deep. Nancy is seen in disguise, trying to escape the island before she's arrested for Ritchie's murder. Jack drives past Nancy in a limousine, stopping to wish her well and refusing to help her after she set him up. He gets back in the limo, with the money and a beautiful vacationer he met while working at the Judge's resort.