They're not a couple. They both swear it! Watch BOUNCE, however, and you wonder if "Gwen-Ben" aren't kidding themselves.

Ben Affleck plays BUDDY AMARAL, a cocky, womanizing L.A. advertising exec (is there any other kind?) who, while on a business trip in Chicago, gives his airline ticket to solid family man/writer GREG JANELLO (Tony Goldwyn) who wants to get home to wife ABBY (Gwyneth Paltrow) and young sons. When the plane crashes and Greg is killed, Buddy's life and career start disintegrating in a big guilt-fest. Hitting bottom, Buddy decides to follow one of the 12-step recovery credos and make things up to someone he has hurt.

Buddy seeks out widow Abby, helps her get a big real-estate sales commission and falls in love with her, all without telling her about his unlucky connection to her dead husband. The relationship blossoms until Abby learns that Buddy's lying bod should have been in that plane seat instead of her hubby's. Like in most romantic films, the lovers' road back to each other is rough and winding but ultimately all is peachy-keen.

The plot of BOUNCE is predictable, formula romantic faire with the necessary "Kleenex moments" we all expect. It's a well-written "chick flick" that would have gotten good numbers as a t.v. movie-of-the-week if it weren't for its stars whose real-life on-again-off-again chemistry gives "bounce" to their characters and merits the big-screen showing. Paltrow is especially vulnerable as fragile Abby while Ben is a bit more "wooden" in his loner scenes. Put the two together, however, and you wonder if the break-up/make-up tears aren't the real thing. If these two beautiful Hollywood specimens turn you off, steer clear but "Gwen-Ben" fans should eat this one up. Take a bunch of your girlfriends and hit the multi-plex at the mall.