The second movie adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s crime caper "The Big Bounce," following the widely dismissed 1969 version, comes to the screen via ace director George Armitage ("Miami Blues," "Grosse Pointe Blank"). It’s a mixed bag of light comedy and tepid caper, sexy bodies and surf dressed up with an amusingly goofy Owen Wilson but a slack, casual approach to its heist, rendering the film an only intermittently enjoyable trip. The result does not rank in the class of other Leonard screen versions like "Get Shorty," "The Grifters" or "Out of Sight," but still has its modest merits.

Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson) is a two-bit criminal and slacker settled down on Oahu, an odd-job beach bum and part-time surfer prone to stealing wallets and women. As the film opens, he’s sprung from jail and directly into the hands of a local island businessman (Morgan Freeman) and the arms of the beautiful mistress (Sarah Foster) of a wealthy construction guru (Gary Sinise), who turns him on to stealing a $200,000 take. Jack manages to piss off a keystone local cop (Charlie Sheen), who’s also screwing the same minx, while putting the con in the backseat long enough to romance her.

Here we have a feather light and watchable, minor Elmore Leonard adaptation, that only works spasmodically but has enough humor and sexiness to make it enjoyable. It helps that "The Big Bounce" is anchored by Wilson, an actor so likable that he makes you want to pay attention even when the story flags and drags, the caper clearly underwhelms and his one-liners almost always seem to come directly from himself and not the half-baked script.

Foster certainly looks the part with her comely, come-hither sensuality, but her performance lacks the necessary calculation. She’s all seduction and little brains. Freeman lays back and enjoys the Hawaiian vacation while Sheen phones in some so-so uptight shtick. Sinise has nothing to do but pass out while Bebe Neuwirth steals all of her scenes as the dazed, drunken wife who bungles the big take.

Of course, the plot contains the required twists, surprises, reversals and so on. I get the sense that neither Armitage or the actors believe any of it for one minute, and they’re all having a grand time with their salty one liners and sometimes clever gags supplied by Sebastian Guiterriez’ lightweight script.

There are some memorable comic moments and scenes here, notably a post-brawl conversation between Wilson and Sheen, an amusing upstairs/downstairs bit by Foster, a daffy Neuwirth cooking up a half-baked alibi and a brutally honest definition of friendship cooked up by Wilson.

The issue here is that though the film looks great and is, for the most part, ably performed, what it comes down to is your tolerance level for Wilson. He’s at his affable best in this film, and his hip and winning, self-aware doofus act goes down easily as goofy fun.