Directed by Bart Freundlich. Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha, Jordan Carlos, Kelly Gould, Art Garfunkel 15A cert, gen release, 95 min

Appealing performances lift this age-gap romcom a notch or two above the norm, writes DONALD CLARKE

BART FREUNDLICH, director of the ground-breakingly terrible Trust the Man, returns with another comedy set among downtown Manhattan folk.

Julianne Moore, Mr Freundlich’s wife, presumably made her excuses (“Oh Bart. I’ve got that, erm, you know, thing with the thing”).

Instead, the fearsome Catherine Zeta-Jones strides forth in a film that seeks to subvert sitcom norms. So it proves, though not in quite the way the film-makers intend.

True, the main female character is a good decade and a half older than the male romantic interest. But CZJ invests her character with such falling-down bonhomie, and Justin Bartha (the puzzled one from The Hangover)is so tediously responsible that the age difference seems largely academic (not to mention the wrong way round).

No. The strange reversal here is that, for all intents and purposes, the female lead falls in love with the gay best friend.

You know how these things usually go. Jennifer Lopiston goes out with lots of men and, after enduring each successive catastrophe, returns to a sensitive neighbour with a firm line in sympathetic chatter. Eventually, he helps her identify the one honest bloke among the depressing array of cads. This time round, the GBF puts himself forward as a candidate.

To clarify, Bartha’s character is not actually gay. He just behaves as homosexuals do only in Hollywood comedies: an over-qualified barista, he talks comfortably to kids and has an interest in women’s studies.

CZJ, meanwhile, fleeing an unfaithful husband with her two children, transforms herself into every sane man’s ideal date. Working for a sports channel, she has access to boxing tickets and enjoys drinking to dangerous excess. (She can also introduce you to Kirk Douglas.)

As you might suspect, the film-makers have trouble devising barriers to the progress of such a nicely balanced relationship. Indeed, Bartha is so charming and Zeta-Jones is such good fun (oggie, oggie, oggie!) that you feel positively furious when they encounter inevitable potholes.

Still, though worryingly inclined to drippiness, T he Reboundis significantly better than we had a right to expect. You can come out of the broom cupboard now, Julianne.