Rebound (2005)

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.

Director:

Steve Carr

Writers:

William Wolff (story), Ed Decter (story),

Stars:

Martin Lawrence, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Breckin Meyer

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Lawrence	...	Roy McCormick / Preacher Don
Wendy Raquel Robinson	...	Jeanie Ellis
Breckin Meyer	...	Tim Fink
Horatio Sanz	...	Mr. Newirth
Oren Williams	...	Keith Ellis
Patrick Warburton	...	Larry Burgess Sr.
Megan Mullally	...	Principal Walsh
Eddy Martin	...	One Love
Steven Christopher Parker	...	Wes
Steven Anthony Lawrence	...	Ralph
Logan McElroy	...	Fuzzy
Gus Hoffman	...	Goggles
Tara Correa-McMullen	...	Big Mac (as Tara Correa)
Amy Bruckner	...	Annie
Alia Shawkat	...	Amy

Storyline

Coach Roy once was college basketball's top mastermind. But lately his attentions have been on his next endorsements, not on his next game. What¹s more, Roy's temper has run amuck, leading to his being banned from college ball until he can demonstrate compliance--in other words, not explode every time he walks onto the court. Roy waits and waits; for a suitable coaching offer, but he receives only one: the Mount Vernon Junior High School Smelters basketball squad. Roy reluctantly accepts the offer, hoping that a few weeks at the school will prove his good intentions and restore him to his high-living ways as a celebrated college coach. But when old school meets middle school, Coach Roy doesn't know what hit him. It's not until Roy decides to teach his young charges some new concepts--like passing, rebounding, dribbling, and scoring--that the Smelters begin to find success and Roy finds something long thought lost: his love of the game.

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Plot Keywords:

coach | school | basketball | game | middle school | 

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Taglines:

A comedy where old school ...meets middle school

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rage Control

Filming Locations:

Columbus, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$33,100,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,003,237 (USA) (1 July 2005)

Gross:

$16,808,336 (USA) (16 September 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Robert Simonds Productions, Runteldat Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tara Correa-McMullen's final role.

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Goofs

The referee in the finals is wearing the wrong uniform. Basketball referees' shirts do not have collars. Collars are worn by football officials, but basketball officials wear plain v-necks.

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Quotes

Referee Freddy: [to Roy] You Know, I've been reading these books that say that you should give yourself pats on the back. Daddy never gave me pats on the back. Daddy never gave me any...
Larry Burgess Sr.: Blah Blah Blah! This guy is blind as my dead grandma and twice as slow!

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Connections

References The Best Damn Sports Show Period (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Hey Ya"
Written by André Benjamin
Performed by Outkast
Courtesy of LaFace Records / Zomba Label Group
By Arrangement with SONY BMG Music Licensing

User Reviews

Could easily have been made from digital composition of many other films and have been no worse

College basketball coach Roy McCormick is a great coach but also known for his fiery reputation. When one of his outbursts sees the very public death of another college's animal mascot, McCormick finds himself banned from the league but with one chance to redeem himself if he can work the remainder of the season without any trouble. Problem is, nobody will hire him to give him that chance to prove himself worthy of challenging the ban, which leads him to his old high school who haven't won a single game for decades.

I have checked so in 2005 I know we had the technology available to do this film a much easier way. What technology you ask? Well, to answer that you just need to look at the opening montages in the Oscars where Billy Crystal is inserted into the big films that year, or the adverts that feature dead stars in modern locations – essentially I guess it is a video version of Photoshop. For Rebound you see we could easily have accessed a handful of selected films, paid for the rights and left them alone with a team of digital editors for about two weeks and then there you have it. For the sports stuff we can go right to pretty much any family-friend basketball film that has comedy fat kids, cocky kids, a kid who "has talent but just needs the right leadership™" but who are a total bunch of losers but perhaps can pull it out for "the big game™". In regards of the rest of it, well, Lawrence certainly is not short of basic films where he plays the same character who learns lessons, makes smart remarks and, oh, hits it off with the sexy black single mom who originally disliked him for his arrogance but ultimately sees the good in him. If nothing else it would have been both an interesting technical project and a cutting commentary on modern family films if it had all been done by digital composite.

Sadly for us, it is instead a whole new film that does everything that other films have do and aspires to do nothing different and, certainly, nothing better. All the genre boxes are ticked, all the obvious pieces of humour are wheeled out and the narrative (for what it is) goes where you know it will from the very start. The "wacky" music lets us know when we are supposed to laugh and all the cast pull faces whenever they get the chance to do so. Lawrence screams laziness in every aspect – whether it be his body or his performance it is clear he cannot be bothered. I write that as someone willing to forgive him because he is pretty funny when he is "on" but in this family rubbish I think he took getting to the set as doing enough. Robinson has a great body and forces herself into affection with Lawrence in the same way everybody else does in these things, whether it be her, Nia Long or whoever. The kids are actually reasonably OK as they have a more straightforward job to deliver; Williams is cool enough to carry the "good kid" role, Martin is a bit irritating but mainly due to his character, McElroy, Hoffman and the others fill in with solid comedy turns. Shawkat is a weird find for Arrested Development fans, but at least she is amusing even if you cannot help feel it must have pained her to go from that to this. Correa-McMullen turns in a similarly solid "I'll do what is required" performance but is sadly more notable now for being killed in a gang-related shooting not long after this film came out.

Other than that tragic footnote though, there is nothing else of particular note about Rebound. It could easily have been other films run together because all it does is tick all the genre boxes without bringing anything new to the party. It is worse than that actually because, in accepting the basics as its all, it is not only mediocre but it mostly wallows in its mediocrity to the point where it offers nothing for adults and only very base entertainment for young children.