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The Movie: I've enjoyed a few of Martin Lawrence's films in the past, especially "Nothing to Lose", an underrated comedy where Lawrence and Tim Robbins were terrific together. "Blue Streak" also had its moments, although the same can't be said for "Blue Streak" clone "National Security". However, "Rebound" is an instance where Lawrence clearly has chosen to take the easy route: this is predictable, formulaic stuff that we've seen about a million times before, including at least a couple this year. Beyond that, the usually R-rated Lawrence never seems quite at home in a PG movie. The film stars Lawrence as college basketball coach Roy McCormick, a tempermental (well, as angry as it gets in a PG movie), egotistical coach who gets thrown from the league after yet another incident. In order to try and repair his name and get back into the league, his agent (Breckin Meyer, deserving better) gets him a gig coaching basketball at his old junior high. You may have heard this one before: Roy is upset at first about the situation, grows to like the kids, the kids start winning and Roy learns a lesson or two. Lawrence doesn't give it a particularly strong effort, but he's surrounded by a pretty solid set of supporting players, including Alia Shawkat ("Arrested Development"), Megan Mullally ("Will and Grace") and, in the film's best performance, Patrick Warburton ("Seinfeld", "Emperor's New Groove") as an arrogant, possibly insane rival coach. "Rebound", while not horrible, is entirely forgettable: it's an unambitious feature that doesn't bring anything fresh to a tale that was played out ages ago. The picture has a few amusing moments, but it's otherwise just a matter of checking off the expected plot points until the credits roll. The DVD VIDEO: "Rebound" is presented by Fox in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full-frame, with each presentation on its own side of a dual-sided, single-layered disc. The anamorphic widescreen presentation looked perfectly fine, as sharpness and detail looked consistently solid, although not exceptional. The presentation showed some minor shimmering and a couple of minor artifacts, but was otherwise clean and clear, with no edge enhancement, print flaws or other issues. Colors appeared nicely saturated, with no smearing or other faults. A fine presentation for a feature that remains pretty basic visually. SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is almost entirely front-heavy, with only a couple of slight instances of surround use. Essentially a "comedy" mix, the picture's audio gets the job done - no more, no less. Audio quality is fine, with clear dialogue and effects. EXTRAS: Commentary by writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, alternate ending, storyboards, trailer and promos for other Fox titles. Final Thoughts: "Rebound" goes over very familiar ground, offering no surprises and not enough laughs. Fox's DVD edition provides good video quality, adequate audio and a few decent supplements. It may be an alright rental for kids, but others should skip it. 
Film Grade The Film A- DVD Grades Video 88/B Audio: 86/B Extras: 80/B- |