The Rebound | Movies

There is plenty of fun to be had in this cougar/cub romantic comedy. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Sandra, a dreary SUV-driving soccer mum from Connecticut who, very early on, discovers her husband is having an affair. Struggling with the betrayal, Sandra decides to move to New York taking her two young children with her. There she meets 24-year-old Aram (Justin Bartha, previously in "The Hangover"), a cute guy who hasn't had much luck with love or his career and works in a cafe below her city apartment. Sandy progressively rediscovers her identity in the Big Apple, gaining confidence by enrolling in self-defense classes and putting her sports league nous to use which lands her a job as a sports writer. Her hours are long and she soon realises she needs the support of a nanny. One morning when getting her coffee, Sandy casually mentions she needs a nanny to Aram. He hesitantly accepts the responsibility of caring for her kids and eventually develops a strong bond with them. After a couple of failed dates, Sandy's cougar instincts kick in and her desire for the male nanny is exciting. This is where we see some silly love scenes that are surprisingly well made. The chemistry between Sandy and Aram is one of the movie's furthermost strengths, but will the relationship last or is Sandy simply on the rebound? This and Aram's occasional childish behaviour is the hindrance that the 40-year-old is coming to terms with. Zeta-Jones plays the older-woman part well and portrays the anguish of a cougar effectively. The same can't be said about Bartha, 31, who appears much older than the 24-year-old character he plays and doesn't always depict despair convincingly. Although "The Rebound" is cashing in on the cougar phenomenon, it does so in a surprisingly honest manner. It's filled with light-hearted humour without relying on cheesy moments and gives us an insight into the pitfalls of cougar-dom.