★½
Rebound looks every bit like a way to receive a fast influx of cash. If you're a screenwriter and need to pay your debts right now, lest the loan sharks break your legs, then all you have to do is write a kiddie sports movie about a weak underdog team that improves under the leadership of a new coach, preferably one that doesn't really want to be there. Just about any studio is willing to give this kind of story the green light, because it features a flawed hero who can do a quick turnaround and give the false impression that he grew up. Hire a name actor to play him, and then populate the rest of the cast with unknowns.
The result is a bargain. The movie will disappear within weeks but stick around long enough to turn a profit. Everyone gets paid and everyone is content, except those who stumble into the theater to see it, because they lose money and walk out in a drunken daze.
Martin Lawrence plays Roy McCormick, a disgraced college basketball coach who takes a job at his old middle school as a condition of his probation. His team is a collection of misfits. Nobody can shoot, pass or even dribble with any consistency. Through the requirements of this rigid plot structure, the coach will eventually take his job seriously, win a few games, earn respect, and finally participate in the championship game, the outcome of which will surprise you only if you've never seen Wildcats, Little Giants, Ladybugs, The Big Green or a host of others like them.
Another scene I saw coming a mile away was the reinstatement meeting to allow Roy to coach college basketball again. What I find especially tasteless about this scene is the conflict it creates. The board schedules the meeting on the same day of the state championship, thus placing Roy in the difficult dilemma of accepting reinstatement instead of coaching the game. The only purpose of this little side trip is to provide a means for which Roy can preach to the audience about how he understands the meaning of competition and the values of teamwork. It is a cheap ploy to gain our sympathy, because the board members are unreasonably corrupt, thereby placing our support firmly with Coach Roy. The writers weren't capable of honest writing, so trickery was the only other option.
There is not an original thought in this movie. Rebound exists solely for the benefit of those who made it and those who appeared in it. It certainly doesn’t exist to entertain the audience. Martin Lawrence, not one of my favorite comic actors, goes into autopilot mode, something he does in most of his movies (except 1999's Life, still his best work). All that’s required of him is to show up and recite his lines and put in no more effort than that. He’s like the lazy guy who goes to the gym and leaves after 10 minutes due to an inability to commit, but thinks it's still enough. The rest of the cast—the children, the love interest, the assistant coach, the principal—follow that example.
© 2005 Silver Screen Reviews
The result is a bargain. The movie will disappear within weeks but stick around long enough to turn a profit. Everyone gets paid and everyone is content, except those who stumble into the theater to see it, because they lose money and walk out in a drunken daze.
Martin Lawrence plays Roy McCormick, a disgraced college basketball coach who takes a job at his old middle school as a condition of his probation. His team is a collection of misfits. Nobody can shoot, pass or even dribble with any consistency. Through the requirements of this rigid plot structure, the coach will eventually take his job seriously, win a few games, earn respect, and finally participate in the championship game, the outcome of which will surprise you only if you've never seen Wildcats, Little Giants, Ladybugs, The Big Green or a host of others like them.
Another scene I saw coming a mile away was the reinstatement meeting to allow Roy to coach college basketball again. What I find especially tasteless about this scene is the conflict it creates. The board schedules the meeting on the same day of the state championship, thus placing Roy in the difficult dilemma of accepting reinstatement instead of coaching the game. The only purpose of this little side trip is to provide a means for which Roy can preach to the audience about how he understands the meaning of competition and the values of teamwork. It is a cheap ploy to gain our sympathy, because the board members are unreasonably corrupt, thereby placing our support firmly with Coach Roy. The writers weren't capable of honest writing, so trickery was the only other option.
There is not an original thought in this movie. Rebound exists solely for the benefit of those who made it and those who appeared in it. It certainly doesn’t exist to entertain the audience. Martin Lawrence, not one of my favorite comic actors, goes into autopilot mode, something he does in most of his movies (except 1999's Life, still his best work). All that’s required of him is to show up and recite his lines and put in no more effort than that. He’s like the lazy guy who goes to the gym and leaves after 10 minutes due to an inability to commit, but thinks it's still enough. The rest of the cast—the children, the love interest, the assistant coach, the principal—follow that example.
© 2005 Silver Screen Reviews
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