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Elmore Leonard is an author you hope comes through on every page. The interplay is mesmerizing and so is hearing dialogue that continuously feels like Leonard, while the characters sound different from one another. I appreciate the way he scoops up oddballs and misfits from the shrubbery, sets them to work at bizarre day jobs, and illegal night jobs, and shows them to be world-weary yet amazingly vulnerable. Today I bought his new novel, which is something I never miss. On most occasions, the books are smooth sailing till the end, resulting in a grin of satisfaction upon closing the book.
Such a unique voice is seldom heard in films. cleverly captivating, Leonard’s plots are far beyond the reason we read about in the books. “Delightful and ingenious,” as Agatha Christie would say, poor soul. With Leonard, it’s more about the how than the what, and with thirty films created from his work, it’s clear that he is a genius. Of the ones I’ve seen, I would say John Frankenheimer’s “52 Pick-Up,” Barry Sonnenfeld’s “Get Shorty,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight” are the ones that attempt to channel his spirit, but all four blend the Leonard voice with the distinctive voices of their directors.
Next is “The Big Bounce,” the second screen adaptation of a Leonard novel which was originally set in California and filmed in 1969 starring Ryan O’Neal and Leigh Taylor-Young, but has since been moved to Hawaii. There’s Owen Wilson, Charlie Sheen, Vinnie Jones, Sara Foster, Morgan Freeman, Gary Sinise, and you’ll never believe it, but Willie Nelson and Harry Dean Stanton round off the ensemble. As for the setting, it’s not the stereotypical Hawaii that everyone imagines. Rather, it is a less populated region with many natives who add vibrance to the place, especially in the resort bungalows that were run by Freeman (who is also the local lawman) where Wilson’s character works, which is a cross between a janitor and a sex worker.
The area’s antagonist is Ray Ritchie (Gary Sinise) who is a real estate developer looking to construct skyscrapers that will destroy the charm of paradise. Ritchie’s foreman Lou Harris (Vinnie Jones) gets into a televised fight with Jack Ryan (Wilson), a beach bum and a part-time sportsman. That is when Ritchie’s enforcer Bob Jr. (Charlie Sheen) is introduced. Then, there is also Ritchie’s girlfriend who has a soft spot for criminals, Nancy Hayes (Sara Foster), who is stumped with Jack’s burglar skills and becomes obsessed with him.
In a way too complex to accurately describe, the fates of each of these characters intertwine, but I will say that Leonard never fails to surprise us with the ulterior motives some of his characters have. Their loyalties can change at any second. What they desire and what action they choose to take does not matter at all. Rather, that is the reason why they are given a stage. The joy of the film derives from seeing and hearing them, and Owen Wilson shines especially with his lines that disguise anger with soft reasoning.
That’s not how the movie functions. It wanders and drifts away from the original concept. Part of me relished their easygoing jubilation towards the characters. I know you, and I myself, wanted more clarity, but perhaps one night during some late incoherent hour while mindlessly scrolling through television channels you may come across this and be astonished by the fact that the characters live their lives as if being an Elmore Lenard character is the funniest thing in the world. Who knows, maybe they are.
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