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The Rebound Movie Review Summary

Actors: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of The Rebound


After her divorce, Sandy transitions from a homemaker life to a life as an independent and successful sports desk anchor and must navigate a new relationship with a young man almost half her age. Sandy is a 40 year old single mother who recently divorced from her long-time husband and is out to make a new life for herself in New York City. The story begins with Sandy watching a video of her son's birthday party and inadvertently seeing footage of her husband getting a blowjob from another woman. Sandy calmly breaks it off with her husband and takes her two children, Sadie and Frank, to a hotel in New York City. She's been stuck in the role of "suburban housewife" for far too long and she is sick of it but at the same time it's also been a long time since she's been participating in the competitive work force. Luckily, because of her hobby/obsession with sports, she has kept a detailed series of binders based on the stats of notable sports teams and athletes which comes in useful when she applies to work at a news network.
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Meanwhile, Aram is a 25 year old young man who is a bit confused as to what he wants to do with his life and has ended up applying for a part-time job at a women's center. His love life is on the rocks since his French wife left him for her fake "brother" in a green card scheme. One day, Sandy makes an appearance at the coffee shop where he works and Aram shows her the apartment available upstairs and, being a nice guy, tells her he doesn't mind babysitting her kids since he just works downstairs. Sandy is slightly curious about Aram but initially writes him off since he is 15 years younger than her. However, the two are thrown together when Aram is asked to wear a fat "sumo" suit and act as a "threatening man" at a women's self-defense workshop that Sandy attends. It's a pretty humiliating job for Aram and he gets thrown around and beat-up by all the tough women taking that class. In particular, Sandy is asked to unleash her "ocean of anger" on the "perpetrator" represented by Aram in his fat suit. Sandy channels all her anger and attacks Aram until he is a bruised and pathetic mess.

Later on, Sandy is embarrassed to find out that Aram is the man under the fat suit. She apologizes to him and asks him if he can babysit her kids while she goes on a date since he must be trustworthy if he works at the women's center. During the date, Sandy sabotages her own date with her insecurity and awkwardness (since it's been a long time since she's last dated someone). But, also, her date is a bit of a self-absorbed jerk who keeps ranting about her bone structure and giving her awkward and slightly sexual massages that make Sandy uncomfortable (he is a chiropractor). Meanwhile, Sandy's kids love Aram, as he is comfortable behaving like a kid himself. When Sandy returns after her horrible date, she is drunk and depressed, all of which Aram must witness.

The next day, Aram rushes into Sandy's room because her kids were screaming that their mother was dead. When Sandy wakes up, she at first thinks she was sleeping with Aram, but once the situation is clarified, she has such a bad hangover she asks Aram to continue babysitting her kids for him. At work, Sandy impresses her boss with her fresh "woman's" perspective on sports and gets an opportunity to start writing about sports. When she tells Aram, he inadvertently compliments her by saying she has the "face" to be a news anchor. The two trade stories about their failed relationships and in the end, Sandy asks Aram to be the full-time nanny for her kids, a new job which appalls his parents, who think he should be doing something better. Sandy and Aram settle into their new jobs and into the dynamics of their relationship with each other as Sandy is inadvertently starting to treat Aram as a pseudo father to her children.

As thanks to Aram for babysitting her kids, she gives him a set of tickets to see a big fight. Aram asks Sandy to go with her, since the kids will be with their father the weekend of the fight. After the date, Sandy's ex-husband makes his appearance and pleads that Sandy forgive him and take him back but he is so chauvinistic, belittling and smug in how he addresses her that Sandy is not in anyway willing to return to him. Aram supports her in standing up to her husband by quoting the angry words she said that day she was beating him up at the self-defense workshop. After the incident, Sandy demands that Aram take her out again.

Aram, having already promised he would support his best friend Mitch by attending a low-budget play (based on Top Gun) in which his friend is starring, invites Sandy to accompany them. Sandy manages to impress Mitch and his other co-actors with very intelligent comments about the play, despite how horrible the play actually was. They all decide to party together and Sandy fits in perfectly with the younger crowd, making Aram fall in love with her even more. After the party, Aram and Sandy sleep together and are seen by Frank, who tries to process the situation with this own kid logic. Like a real father would do, Aram tries to explain in gentle (and humorous) terms what is going on between him and Sandy.

Later on, Sandy introduces Aram to her older, mature friends. They are a bit judgmental about the whole situation and keep teasing Aram for being so young. Aram does manage to impress some of Sandy's friends with his easy going manner and ability to joke about his situation, too. After the dinner, Aram expresses his love for her and Sandy gets a bit nervous, suggesting they take their relationship slowly. Weeks pass and Sandy finds out she is pregnant, news which makes Aram happy but makes her panic. The two decide to go through all the steps to prepare for the pregnancy including a visit to the doctor. The doctor gives them the sad news that Sandy's pregnancy is ectopic. Though she is saddened, Sandy is also suddenly filled with relief that she will not be "trapping" Aram into something that he may not be ready for and that they are two totally different people at different stages in life and that it will never work out between them. She and Aram break up.

There is a montage of Aram explaining the sad news to Sandy's kids and then trying to move on. Aram gets a white collar office job for a few weeks, then decides to travel around the world to meet new people and get new experiences. When he comes back to New York, he shares his knowledge of the world with little kids at lecture presentations at the local museum. Because he is still in love with Sandy, whenever other women his age ask him to hang out, he isn't interested. Meanwhile, Sandy goes on with her life, now as a sports desk anchor.

One day, years later, Sandy and Aram run into each other. Sandy notices the change in Aram - he is more mature and focused in his life. She realizes that she really misses Aram. Aram mentions, jokingly, that he's 30, now. He introduces Sandy to his adopted son, Zeke. Aram hints that it's hard to find a "mom" that's "good enough" for them, hinting heavily that he only ever loved Sandy. Sandy invites Aram to come and have dinner with her and her kids. The movie ends with the hint that Sandy and Aram will re-start their relationship and perhaps even move forward as they have figured out how much they love each other (and that age doesn't really matter).
Best part of story, including ending: I like that the movie's addresses the stigma between couples that are separated by age - especially the unconventional older "cougar" woman with a younger man. I like that the movie doesn't try to supply a flimsy solution to how to overcome the social stigma but only hints, gently, that as long as the love is strong enough, it will persist.

Best scene in story: My favorite scene was when Sandy beats up Aram at the Self-defense workshop. It was a hilarious way for Aram to get to know Sandy's true personality.

Opinion about the main character: I like that Sandy ended up being able to stand up to her ex-husband who is the kind of man that likes his wife to focus on being a homemaker and doesn't believe that woman are really capable of doing more. I like that Sandy took charge of her life and made it into a success, something which is really hard to do as a single mother who hasn't even graduated from college.

The review of this Movie prepared by Sharon C. a Level 12 Black-Throated Green Warbler scholar

Script Analysis of The Rebound

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Plot & Themes

Time/era of movie:    -   2000's+ (present) Romance/Love/Hugging    -   Yes Kind of romance:    -   reconnecting after brief encounter Lover is...    -   much older/younger

Main Character

Identity:    -   Female Profession/status:    -   agent (arts/sports/lobbyist) Age:    -   40's-50's Ethnicity/Nationality    -   White American

Setting

United States    -   Yes The US:    -   Northeast

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   no torture/death Sex/nudity in movie?    -   Yes What kind of sex:    -   kissing    -   sex under blankets Any profanity?    -   Occasional swearing

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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