Former “real life� lovers Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow (who mercifully didn’t do her own makeup it would appear) reunite for what could only be billed as a romantic drama.

When he’s not protecting dashboards against sun damage, Buddy Amaral (Affleck) is a rather driven, single advertising executive. Stuck at Chicago’s O’Hare airport awaiting a flight that has been delayed due to snow, he hangs out in the bar and chats up a nearby blonde named Mimi (Natasha Henstridge, or “the chick from Species� as the South Park guys would have it). He also chats with a playwright/TV writer named Greg who is desperate to get home to his wife and two boys for Christmas, but who has had his flight cancelled. In what he thinks is a generous move, although it isn’t entirely altruistic as he intends to spend the night with Mimi, Buddy gives his ticket home to Los Angeles to Greg - but later that evening comes the distressing news that the plane has crashed, leaving no survivors...

Wracked with guilt, Buddy descends into an alcoholic spiral. After one too many embarrassing moments, his concerned boss enters him into rehab, and he eventually emerges clean and sober – but still with a nagging urge to somehow make amends for what he sees as being his fault. He tracks down Greg’s widowed wife, Abby Janello (Gwynnie), ostensibly to check on how she’s dealing with things and to perhaps help out a little, but inevitably ends up becoming more of a part of her life than he had originally intended...

Carried by two superb performances from the leads, as well as some entertaining smaller role appearances from the likes of Jennifer Grey and Joe Morton, Bounce contains a bit of a refreshing twist on the traditional romance storyline, and also deals with a few intriguing questions of ethics and truth. It’s well and truly worth a look for anybody who can handle a lack of explosions and guns in favour of a marvellously realised drama.

As an aside, made before that blackest of days in September 2001, the introductory sequence of Bounce shows an airliner approaching the skyscrapers of Chicago, which for this reviewer at least was extremely unsettling. Sadly, it would appear that some things no matter how innocent have changed forever...

Bounce on DVD retains its original cinematic ratio of 1.85:1, and is anamorphically enhanced. As is becoming more and more common with recent theatrical releases making their way into our homes, there is very little to fault with the transfer. While it’s sharp and very detailed, this doesn’t lead to anything noticeable in the way of aliasing or shimmering. Colour is generally muted due to the locations used, but when it ventures outdoors it is at times simply gorgeous. Black levels are spot on, and really the only thing that could be said against this is that there are a few occasional speckles that the more keen-eyed will notice – but this is getting into nit-picking territory. The layer change occurs within a freeze frame, and whilst slightly noticeable it is at least navigated rather speedily.

The only audio mix on offer is in Dolby Digital 5.1, and really not much more could be asked for in a predominantly dialogue-based film. Surround and subwoofwoof usage is at a minimum, bar a couple of rare occasions where they are used to add subtle extra effect. Synching is perfect, and dialogue is never difficult to understand. Mychael Danna supplied the never-intrusive score, which is bolstered by the presence of classic soul songs from the likes of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and The Drifters rubbing shoulders with the likes of British songstresses Beth Orton and Dido, plus regular modern day soundtrack contributor BT.

This rental release gives us only the first disc of what was originally a two-disc set on release in region 1. As such all that is hidden away within the sweetly animated menu is an audio commentary from writer/director Don Roos and producer Bobby Cohen. As far as these things go it does tend to be a little dreary and a bit of an ordeal to sit right through, however others’ mileage may vary as there is some interesting information available on their filmic baby within. You may notice that they make mention of deleted scenes on the DVD – these will hopefully appear along with the commentary from Ben, Gwynnie and Don, two featurettes, a “gag reel�, a theatrical trailer and a music video for the execrable Diane Warren (AGH!) song Need to be Next to You performed by Leigh of Sixpence None the Richer when the region 4 retail version of Bounce is released soon, as it is also scheduled to be a two-disc set on our shores.