An enjoyable rom-com with an unusual structure but not too many real surprises...

The Rebound (2010) is a typical ‘boy meets girl and falls for girl’ coming-of-age love story - except the girl is really a 40-something, recently divorced yummy mummy of two trying to start over after an abrupt end to her marriage.

Sandy, played by Oscar and BAFTA-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, rediscovers her life as she begins a new chapter where she meets recently love-torn college graduate 24-year old Aram, played by The Hangover’s (2009) Justin Bartha. These strangers from two seemingly very different walks of life converge at the same crossroads, on a rebound from not only just a relationship, but from life itself.

Mourning the death of a very short-lived relationship with a French girl who married him to obtain a green card, Aram is set back in an aimless, loser state of mind made worse by the lack of a concrete career path. But he soon finds a new purpose in the least likely of places when he meets single mom Sandy, who hires Aram as a full-time nanny to her kids. Having won the affection of the kids, Sandy and Aram grow closer with every encounter and find a connection beyond physical attraction.

The film is peppered with light-hearted, cute-more-than-witty bits of humour, with even a few laugh-out-loud moments - such as Aram’s ridiculous fat-suit costume worn as the perpetrator dummy for a women’s self-defence class. This is where Sandy lets out all the pent-up anger towards her cheating ex-husband by doing some serious damage on the dummy figure, who happens to be Aram. Many female viewers are sure to secretly find this extremely gratifying with an extra cheer (or two).

But the young children, Sadie and Frank, steal the show with their blunt, spot-on reactions and observations of situations in an unassumingly funny, honest and non-abrasive way.

Nearly perfect mother and former wife Sandy transforms into a wonderfully-flawed, unknowingly beautiful, even more loveable woman as she faces her challenges and finds herself with the encouragement of Aram. Zeta-Jones brings a natural warmth and sexy charm to Sandy, not too far from her role in No Reservations (2007), while Bartha also delivers a genuine, sweet romantic character as Aram.

The uncomplicated plot progresses naturally with no earth-shattering surprises or guesses to be made except for perhaps when Sandy and Aram become a couple early on in the film, which many might suspect is usually the climax of rom-coms such as these. But the story doesn’t disappoint in injecting a bit of conflict or hurdle to overcome at half-time, forcing the two to re-examine their own lives as individuals from separate places.

But even without any major drama and despite the expected Hollywood happy ending, the film manages to keep your attention with its sense of believability and trajectory toward a heart-warming end.

Film:

Extras: None

The Rebound (2010) is out now.

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