''The Rebound'' is a 2009 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film written and directed by

Bart Freundlich Bartholomew Freundlich (born January 17, 1970) is an American film director, television director, screenwriter, and film producer. Early life Freundlich was born and raised in Manhattan, the son of Debbie, a marketing consultant, and Larry Freu ...

, starring

Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed C ...

and

Justin Bartha Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor, known for his roles as Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series, Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, and David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series '' The New Normal''. ...

. It was released in theaters in several countries in late 2009. It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on 25 December 2010, but was cancelled due to the film's distributor shutting down. It ended up going direct-to-DVD in the United States on 7 February 2012.

Plot

A housewife and mother of two, Sandy (

), discovers that her husband has been unfaithful. After a hasty divorce, she moves to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with her young son and daughter. There, they begin a new life. Sandy rents an apartment above a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

and befriends one of the baristas, Aram Finklestein (

). At age 25, Aram is not sure what he wants to do with his life having just separated (his wife was a French woman who married him for a green card). Despite having a college degree, he is aimless and gets a job at a women's center. During a self-defense class at the women's center where Aram plays the perpetrator, Sandy unleashes an "ocean of anger" on him. The next day, she goes to the coffeeshop to apologize to him and asks him to babysit her kids. He becomes a full-time nanny for the family and develops a close-knit relationship with the children; and a chemistry starts to brew between Aram and Sandy, ensuing in an awkward sexual encounter that the children come to know about. Notwithstanding, they start to date; and, after two months, they seem perfect together. One day, Sandy feels nauseated and suspects she is pregnant. Aram is thrilled and looks forward to raising a child with her. A doctor confirms that Sandy is pregnant, but it is an

ectopic pregnancy Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these symptoms. ...

and will result in a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

. As they leave the doctor, a fight breaks out between Aram and Sandy, with the latter confirming that she thinks it's ludicrous that the two of them, with an age difference of 15 years, would ever be happy together. After the break up, Aram decides to travel the world and to experience new things. Sandy is promoted at her sports news job to anchor. After five years, the two meet again in a chance encounter at a Chinese restaurant. Aram reveals he has adopted a young boy from

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and is still single. Sandy, who is celebrating another promotion with her children and a colleague, invites Aram and his family to join them. The film ends as the two hold hands underneath the table whilst their children start to bond implying that they went on to rekindle their relationship.

Cast

as Sandy *

as Aram Finklestein *

Kelly Gould Kelly Victoria Gould is an American former child actress. She is known for her role as Shannon Clemens on the Lifetime original comedy series ''Rita Rocks'', and as Lucy on the HBO sitcom ''Lucky Louie''. Gould appeared in many television seri ...

as Sadie *

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 ...

as Harry Finklestein * John Schneider (cameo) as Trevor * Marcel Simoneau as Henri *

Joanna Gleason Joanna Gleason (née Hall; born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award–winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles. She's known for originating the role of the Baker's Wife ...

as Roberta Finklestein * Steve Antonucci as Waiter, Aram's Friend *

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield ('' née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

as Laura *

Stéphanie Szostak Stéphanie Szostak (born August 5, 1975) is a French actress who started her career in the early 2000s. Szostak is best known for having appeared in the films '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''Dinner for Schmucks'', ''Iron Man 3'', and ''R.I.P.D.'' Sz ...

as Alice * Rob Kerkovich as Mitch *

Alice Playten Alice Playten ('' née'' Plotkin; August 28, 1947 – June 25, 2011) was an American actress known for her high-pitched, child-like voice. Life and career Born in New York City, Playten began her career at age 11 in the Broadway musical ''Gyp ...

as Sensei Dana *

Sam Robards Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''. Early life and education Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Roba ...

as Frank * Andrew Cherry as Frank Jr., age 7 *

Jake Cherry Jacob Cherry (born September 15, 1996) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Nick Daley in ''Night at the Museum'' (2006) and in its sequel '' Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'' (2009). Early life Cherry was ...

as Frank Jr., age 13 (uncredited) *

Skai Jackson Skai Jackson (born April 8, 2002) is an American actress who was included in ''Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in 2016. She is best known for portraying the role of Zuri Ross in the Disney Channel sitcom '' Jessie'' (2011–2015), which ...

as Museum Little Girl No. 1 *

Saadet Aksoy Saadet Işıl Aksoy (born 29 August 1983) is a Turkish actress, who received critical acclaim with her portrayal of ''Aska'', a red-haired punk trumpet player in Italian actor-director Sergio Castellitto's film '' Twice Born'', in which she co-s ...

as Turkish girl in cafe *

Michael Chernus Michael Louis Chernus (born August 8, 1977) is an American actor. He has acted on film, television, and the stage. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cal Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013 ...

as Actor No. 3 This was Alice Playten's last role before her death in 2011.

Reception

Critical response

''The Rebound'' received generally negative reviews from film critics. Review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the film a score of 42% based on reviews from 24 critics, with 10 positive reviews and 14 negative. Jon Frosch, said: "Saddling two game actors with a tone-deaf, charmless script, the film makes recent J.Lo vehicle ''

The Back-up Plan ''The Back-up Plan'' (previously known as ''Plan B'') is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Alan Poul, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin.Siegel, Tatiana, and Michael Fleming"Jennifer Lopez going with 'Plan B': CBS Films s ...

'' look like Billy Wilder in comparison." Alex Zane said: "These are characters who seem very real. It's their imperfections, not contrived plot points, that drive the story."

Box office

The film grossed $21,790,414 worldwide.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rebound, The 2009 films 2009 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Films directed by Bart Freundlich Films set in Istanbul Films set in New York City Films shot in Paris Films shot in Turkey Films scored by Clint Mansell 2000s English-language films 2000s American films