The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Bounce
Drama · Romance · 2000
Buddy Amaral, a successful and self-absorbed Los Angeles advertising executive, switches airline tickets with a stranger just before boarding a long-delayed flight so that he might enjoy an overnight fling with a pretty Dallas businesswoman. When the plane goes down, killing all aboard, Buddy's guilt soon turns into an alcohol problem. As part of his 12-step program, Buddy seeks atonement and decides to seek out the woman he thinks he's left a widow.
Movie details
Bounce
“Two strangers fell in love. One knew it wasn't by chance.”
2000 Drama · Romance 1h 47m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.8 / 10
Community rating
Buddy Amaral, a successful and self-absorbed Los Angeles advertising executive, switches airline tickets with a stranger just before boarding a long-delayed flight so that he might enjoy an overnight fling with a pretty Dallas businesswoman. When the plane goes down, killing all aboard, Buddy's guilt soon turns into an alcohol problem. As part of his 12-step program, Buddy seeks atonement and decides to seek out the woman he thinks he's left a widow.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Bounce?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Love Happens
Drama · 2009
Dr. Burke Ryan is a successful self-help author and motivational speaker with a secret. While he helps thousands of people cope with tragedy and personal loss, he secretly is unable to overcome the death of his late wife. It's not until Burke meets a fiercely independent florist named Eloise that he is forced to face his past and overcome his demons.
Autumn in New York
Drama · 2000
Will Keane, a Manhattan restaurateur, is content with his playboy lifestyle until he meets Charlotte Fielding, a free-spirited young woman. Together the pair pursue a passionate affair that forces them both to reevaluate what they want out of life, even as fate threatens to steal away their future.
Feast of Love
Romance · 2007
A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.
Not Easily Broken
Drama · 2009
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
The Last Tycoon
Drama · 1976
Monroe Stahr, a successful movie producer, pursues a beautiful and elusive young woman — all the while working himself to death.
Restless
Drama · 2011
Two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and lasting love.
When a Man Loves a Woman
Drama · 1994
An airline pilot and his wife are forced to face the consequences of her alcoholism when her addictions threaten her life and their daughter's safety. While the woman enters detox, her husband must face the truth of his enabling behavior.
Charlie St. Cloud
Drama · 2010
Accomplished sailor Charlie St. Cloud has the adoration of his mother Claire and his little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his bright future is cut short when tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it. After high school classmate Tess returns home unexpectedly, Charlie grows torn between honoring a promise he made four years earlier and moving forward with newfound love. As he finds the courage to let go of the past for good, Charlie discovers the soul most worth saving is his own.
Regretting You
Romance · 2025
Morgan Grant and her daughter Clara explore what's left behind after a devastating accident reveals a shocking betrayal and forces them to confront family secrets, redefine love, and rediscover each other.
What Dreams May Come
Drama · 1998
Chris Nielsen dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he died, his wife Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in Hades for the small chance that he will be able to bring her back to heaven.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Don Roos
Written by
Don Roos
Ben Affleck
Buddy Amaral
Gwyneth Paltrow
Abby Janello
Natasha Henstridge
Mimi Prager
Tony Goldwyn
Greg Janello
Johnny Galecki
Seth
Joe Morton
Jim Willer
Alex D. Linz
Scott Janello
Court is in session
Put Bounce on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.