Sony Pictures
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The Bounty Hunter is pitched as a romantic comedy but I can think of at least two things wrong with that description. It's almost painfully unfunny, and Andy Tennant's film could only be labeled romantic if your idea of being wooed involves handcuffs (well . . . ) or being locked in the boot of a car.
That's where we first meet Nicole (Jennifer Aniston), a newspaper journalist who has skipped bail but been caught by ex-husband Milo (Gerard Butler), the eponymous bounty hunter. The film then flashes back 24 hours to reveal how the pair came to be here but it should only take 24 minutes (maximum) before you're asking yourself 'what the hell am I doing here?'.
Nicole is actually in the middle of investigating a story involving a suspect suicide and possible police cover-up so has no time to appear in court for allegedly assaulting a police officer, hence the bail jumping. Milo, an ex-cop cum bounty hunter who needs money to pay off a loan shark, sees the possibility of scoring an easy $5000 for bringing Nicole in, and embarrassing her big time in the process, as too delicious to pass up.
So ensues a game of cat and mouse, said handcuffs and car boots, and some gun play by both them and some other shady characters in pursuit of them. Indeed, there's a lot of running involved for a romantic comedy where neither main character is a track athlete.
My friend and I both remarked before The Bounty Hunter that we weren't expecting great things because it was a 'Jennifer Aniston film'. It's not that she's untalented but rather extremely limited, and that would be within one or two degrees of her Rachel Green character on the long-running sitcom, Friends. Butler seems to have found himself typecast, too, as the unreconstructed male chauvinist who women can't help but love (see last year's The Ugly Truth).
Apparently the pair may have become an item off screen, which is neither here nor there, but that chemistry, along with any sense of fun, is sorely lacking on screen.
Dear God I hated 'The Ugly Truth'. Staying well away from this tripe!
ReplyDeleteI believe that's what Gerard Butler says before committing to every film, but a boy's gotta eat!
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind the actors, the story was ugly. Gerard Butler still has promise to be a great actor, and he need rolls to compliment his ability. He can do rom-com, but i think he would do better in drama and action flicks.
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