Bounce

On the sunlit streets of Los Angeles, a sharp witted advertising executive named Buddy Amaral pursues a casual flight romance by swapping tickets with a stranger. When the plane he boards is tragically lost, Buddy's swagger collapses into guilt and he slides into a steady pattern of denial and drinking. While enrolled in a twelve step program, he makes a vow to change course and to make amends for the damage his impulsive choice caused. He sets out to locate the woman he believes he has left a widow, hoping to offer a personal apology and to repair the rift his actions created. The search becomes a test of his ego, faith, and capacity to accept responsibility for his mistakes.

Released in 2000, Bounce was directed by Don Roos from an original screenplay. It stars Ben Affleck, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natasha Henstridge, Tony Goldwyn and Johnny Galecki, with a budget of 35 million and a moody Los Angeles backdrop for audiences.

The film grossed about 36.8 million worldwide, earning a little more than its 35 million budget and signaling a modest commercial performance in the crowded drama market of its time. Audiences responded to the lead pairing and the intimate tone.

Critics offered a mixed verdict, praising the performances of Affleck and Paltrow while noting a balance of humor and gravity that sometimes tilts toward melodrama. The film probes guilt, chance, and accountability within a modern romance, asking whether atonement can truly repair damage done and how consequences reshape a life.

Bounce sits inside the era's wave of Los Angeles driven dramas about flawed adults pursuing connection. It didn't redefine the genre, but it drew attention to the dynamics of guilt and responsibility in romantic entanglements and helped cement Affleck and Paltrow as serious screen partners for a period in Hollywood.