THE BIG BOUNCE The 1969 film The Big Bounce, based on an Elmore Leonard novel, was a stinker starring Ryan O’Neal. This remake tries to improve that predictable con-man caper by casting the funnier Owen Wilson in the lead, and the always-good Gary Sinise as the bad guy. But the real upgrade is the setting. The novel and first film took place at a Michigan resort, while the new movie camps on Hawaii’s knockout North Shore. Sure, the plot may still be obvious, but the scenery will take the chill out of winter. January 30.

ALONG CAME POLLY Just when TV reruns should provide a break from nonstop final-season-of-Friends coverage, along comes Along Came Polly. Ben Stiller (a past guest-star on Friends) plays a risk analyst whose super-safe life gets very risky when he meets free-spirited Polly, played by Friends’ Jennifer Aniston. Lots of people subsequently fall down and run into stuff, worrying Stiller’s boss, Alec Baldwin (who has been on Friends twice), and delighting snooty scuba instructor Hank Azaria (another past regular guest on Friends). The slapstick mess is sometimes funny, sometimes dumb, but at least it’s not about a group of yahoos yammering on in a coffee shop. January 16.
— JOE GUINTO