The Rebound (15)

CATHERINE Zeta Jones knows a thing or two about being married to an older man (Michael Douglas, in case you don’t know), but her new film comedy The Rebound reverses the situation.

She plays 40-year-old yummy mummy Sandy whose world collapses when she catches her husband playing around with a neighbour.

Her solution is to pack her bags, grab her son and daughter, and head for a fresh start in New York City.

She’s lucky enough to land a job at a TV sports network, so needs to employ someone to mind the children.

Enter 25-year-old college graduate Aram Finkelstein (Justin Bartha, last seen in The Hangover) who works in the coffee shop below her apartment. He jumps at the opportunity to earn more money and escape the clutches of his controlling Jewish mother (Joanna Gleason) and longsuffering father (Art Garfunkel).

You don’t need to be told that friendship leads to romance for the mother and the nanny, although they have to contend with hostile reaction from family and friends. While Aram manages to make fun of the 15- year age gap, Sandy has more difficulty coming to terms with the older woman-younger man thing.

For Zeta Jones the script was just what she had been looking for. "I love comedy, I always love it when I have a chance to do some comedy," says the Welshborn actress who recently won a Tony for her performance in the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music.

"Not that I can tell a joke beginning to end but if the writing is on the page I always enjoy that. I was sent the script and just thought, wow I’ve never played this kind of character before. It has all the elements that I was looking for, a kind of zany kind of comedy feel to it and a bittersweet story that Sandy goes through.I just thought all those were the elements that I have been looking for and it came full package in The Rebound."