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Morgan Freeman, with Wilson, is the local judge, Walter Crewes.
Jack drifts into town and gets a job working for Ritchie, but almost immediately falls foul of his hired muscle, Harris. Following the incident with the Louisville Slugger, Ritchie tells Jack to get off the island. Jack declines, and moves in to work as a handyman for Crewes, who runs the Keiki Vista Resort and likes life to proceed at what he sees as island pace. He takes an instant liking to Jack and, having known Nancy since she was a kid, is keen to pass on his appreciation of her.
“Jack,” he says, “if you think you can control that girl, or control yourself with her, you’re in for a brain-breaking realisation.” Jack, of course, takes no notice - a response which Crewes affably accepts.
“You don’t befriend someone and start telling him how to live his life,” is how Freeman explains this. “If I see you walking along and there’s a deep hole you’re about to step in, it’s incumbent upon me as a friend to say ‘Watch out for that hole’. But if you say, ‘No problem, I’ve got it under control’ and then you step off into it, well, my part is done.”
The Big Bounce is produced by Steve Bing of Shangri-La Entertainment and Jorge Saralegui, former production head at Fox, for his new company, Material Films. The director is George Armitage, who has made a speciality of offbeat crime stories like Grosse Point Blank and Miami Blues, and whose easygoing attitude scored high with Wilson.
“Directors are largely responsible for the kind of mood that exists on the set,” he says of Armitage. “The combination of George’s easy, encouraging attitude and the beauty and tempo of Hawaii made working on The Big Bounce one of the best experiences on a set that I have ever had. In this relaxed environment, you can’t help feeling free as an actor to try new things and take some chances.”
One area in which the producers and director of The Big Bounce definitely took a chance was in the casting of big-screen newcomer Sara Foster as Nancy. “What’s interesting about Nancy,” says Wilson, “is that she tries so hard to be cynical and tough but you see these flashes of innocence at the same time, which makes her all the more unpredictable. She’s essentially a mischief-maker, which is partly what attracts Jack.
“Does he trust her? I think he makes a calculated decision early on, weighs the risks and rewards of their partnership. In this case, the risk is possibly getting killed and the reward is the undeniable thrill he gets from being around her. She kind of trumps his survival instinct.”
Foster, a movie fan, knew exactly who she was going to take as her inspiration for the role: another former model who made her acting debut in a 1944 movie called To Have and Have Not - Lauren Bacall.
“What they wanted for the character of Nancy was someone natural and effortless, a subtle seductress instead of the cliché femme fatale,” she says. “She knows what she wants and nothing will stop her from getting it, whether it’s breaking into houses or stealing cars or going out for a swim, naked, at 2.00 am.
“Sure, she’s after money - but really it’s more about the fun. She’s 21, she thinks she knows it all, but there are moments when you see her being very sweet and innocent. Ultimately, with Nancy, it’s about the kicks, the craziness, seeing how far she can take things. It’s the big bounce – that’s what makes her tick, gets her adrenaline going.”
The only cast member to have had any reservations about The Big Bounce turns out to be Jones, who for (almost) the first time in his movie career, gets seriously worked over.
“This is the first movie in which I’ve actually been beaten up,” he notes ruefully. “I would like the people at home to note that I’m not planning to make a habit of this.”
Wilson is quick to reassure him. “I don’t think I could beat Vinnie up in real life,” says the film’s star. “I truly had my hands full even in the movie and I had to have a baseball bat or Morgan Freeman holding him back. It was hardly a fair fight.”
But then, Elmore Leonard’s books are not really about ‘fair’.
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THE BIG BOUNCE
Shangri-La Entertainment presents a
Material Films production
A Ron Howard film.
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Prod: Steve Bing, Jorge Saralegui; Exec prod: Zane Weiner, Brent Armitage; Dir: George Armitage; Scr: Sebastian Gutierrez, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard; Ph: Jeffrey L Kimball; Prod des: Stephen Altman; Cost des: Betsy Cox; Ed: Brian Berdan, Barry Malkin; Mus: George S Clinton.
With Owen Wilson (Jack Ryan), Morgan Freeman (Judge Walter Crewes), Gary Sinise (Ray Ritchie), Sara Foster (Nancy Hayes), Willie Nelson (Assistant Prosecutor Joe Lurie), Vinnie Jones (Lou Harris), Bebe Neuwirth (Alison Ritchie), Charlie Sheen (Bob Rogers, Jr), Harry Dean Stanton (Bob Rogers, Sr).
International distribution: Warner Bros Pictures.
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