The Big Bounce

Winningly roguish Owen Wilson seems very much at home in the cheeky, tropical-noir world of this watered-down Elmore Leonard adaptation/remake, playing a lackadaisical surfer-vagabond-conman whose philosophy is that he'll "take money if it's lying around." Newcomer Sara Foster is sexy and sharp as the beach bunny plaything of a crooked developer, from whom she wants to boost $200,000 with Wilson's help. Of course, he's too smart (or is it too apathetic?) to bite down on her bait straight away in this fun but undercooked caper involving mob money and many double-crosses. Director George Armitage (Miami Blues, Grosse Pointe Blank) has a feel for Leonard's irreverent sense of humor, but he's working from an oversimplified, over-Hollywoodized script more concerned with being broadly quirky than with developing characters. Still, the compound twists and talented cast (including Morgan Freeman) serve up enough smiles to justify this as an empty-calorie, lazy-weekend watch. Optional. [Note: Available in both widescreen and full screen versions, DVD extras include the 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “A Con in the Making,” the four-minute surfing featurette “Surfing the Pipeline,” eight minutes of “Wicked Waves” surfing stunt outtakes, and a trailer. Bottom line: a frothy, low-calories extras package for a frothy, low-calorie film.] (R. Blackwelder)