Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Coach Roy McCormick (Martin Lawrence) isn't pleased about having to change the tyre to a bus carrying the Smelters to their game in 'Rebound'. - CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
EVEN WITH severely impaired vision, it is easy to see that Rebound is an attempt by Martin Lawrence to make his own comeback by calling on the power of add-a-kid. It is a classic strategy of the ailing comedian - when in doubt, go PG. Fortunately, this attempt is a pretty funny one, and should go a long way toward giving Lawrence's career the resuscitation it needs.
Rebound is a pretty standard, child-oriented underdog story. Many of them have come before and littered the hearts and minds of many a generation, with flicks such as The Little Giants and The Mighty Ducks being some of the more outstanding.
THE MARTIN SHOW
Rebound follows this formula very closely, with one exception. The children are clearly not the stars of this show. It is the Martin show and the tykes are just props who help to carry through most of the jokes. In that way, it also has much in common with those flicks about men who cross dress for a particular purpose and learn about themselves in the process. In this case, though Lawrence's character does make his way to his more sensitive side, he never has to put on a dress.
So Rebound is the story of a college basketball coach, Roy McCormick, who is far more interested in the money he can earn from endorsements than the game itself. Of course, he also has a temper problem. This comes to a head when he kills a mascot (a bird, not a person). The flick makes a beautiful moment of this, as a very blonde, very cute little girl points at him and screams the accusation. Of course, there is nothing more damning for a black man in America than for a little blonde girl pointing at him accusingly (except if her mother joins in and the police are nearby).
Alas, therefore, Coach Roy is brought low. His penance is to coach at his middle school alma-mater - and the rest of the story is known. Rebound has all the usual suspects. There is the one kid who is normal and who can play, Keith (Oren Williams); there is the fat kid, Fuzzy (Logan McElroy); the kid with slippery fingers, Goggles (Gus Hofman); the nerdy kids Ralph and Wes; and the new standard - the tomboy, Big Mac (Tara Corea).
THE YOUNG DON JUAN
To this group Rebound adds a character borrowed from another kind of kiddie flick, the young Don Juan, One Love (Eddie Martin).
Though Rebound is so formulaic, it also manages to be quite funny. It shows why Lawrence should not yet be counted out, though he is not in his hey day right now. The flick makes a pretty good family film. There is more than enough for the young and not so young to enjoy. So Rebound may well give Lawrence the rebound his acting career needs. If nothing else, it is a tiny respite from the mediocrity he had been stuck in.
