It’s a sad thing when two promising actors come together to make an action comedy movie, but under a weak premise and even weaker dialogue, the film falls apart completely, leaving the actors flailing as they desperately try to transcend a feeble script. Such is the unfortunate case with “The Bounty Hunter,” a film starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.
Newly divorced, Milo Boyd (Butler) is a bounty hunter who is propositioned with the opportunity to bring his ex-wife and investigative journalist Nicole Hurley (Aniston) into jail for skipping out on bail. This provides Butler to add another obnoxiously arrogant, jerk character to his already impressive repertoire (see also: “The Ugly Truth,” “300,” “Law Abiding Citizen,” etc etc). Jennifer Aniston plays the career-obsessed woman who gets herself in trouble when her whistleblower is kidnapped while she is trying to write a story on a suspicious suicide. Cue the non-funny banter between the two as Boyd chases after his ex-wife through a racetrack, through a casino, and locking her in the trunk of his car and handcuffing her to a bed along the way as they try and outwit each other. Simultaneously, Boyd is being chased by people with whom he is in debt while Hurley is being chased by people wishing to snuff her out of her investigation. As you might have already guessed, over the course of the movie, their hateful repartee is only superficial as they realize that they still have feelings for each other after being married and divorced in a nine month time span.
Jennifer Aniston, despite the meek dialogue, always brings her signature charismatic persona to all her roles, so even as she (quite cruelly) dismisses the come-ons of her co-worker in one of the films dismal subplots, it doesn’t seem quite as mean. She is always playing with her hair in the film, which becomes increasingly grating and is not to be mistaken for actual acting. Gerard Butler, as aforementioned, is just plain obnoxious. One can only hope that his current film roles don’t encourage a generation of the cocky, egomaniacal male protagonists in an action comedy film. By the time his “sensitivity” is supposed to show, it just doesn’t seem genuine because Butler is very good playing the cocky scumbag. Butler should probably stay away from these type of roles from now, they’re getting increasingly transparent and annoying.
It is undeniable, however, that these two do provide some type of chemistry to the film, it’s not to be completely overlooked. Provided with better material and perhaps a plot with more substance, fireworks could fly, but the film buckles under the pen of first time screenwriter Sarah Thorp because a stronger script would have done wonders. Disappointingly though, Butler and Aniston try and squeeze something out of the thin script, but nothing can be done. This film is barely worth the two hours. By the time the conclusion arrives, you don’t care anymore. You’ve seen it all before, and it remains completely predictable. Butler and Aniston may have been able to combat this pratfall, but it just doesn’t work. While Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz were able to successfully pull off this feat in 2008’s “What Happens in Vegas,” “The Bounty Hunter” just falls flat.
Rating: One star
Where To Find It: Don’t bother.
Newly divorced, Milo Boyd (Butler) is a bounty hunter who is propositioned with the opportunity to bring his ex-wife and investigative journalist Nicole Hurley (Aniston) into jail for skipping out on bail. This provides Butler to add another obnoxiously arrogant, jerk character to his already impressive repertoire (see also: “The Ugly Truth,” “300,” “Law Abiding Citizen,” etc etc). Jennifer Aniston plays the career-obsessed woman who gets herself in trouble when her whistleblower is kidnapped while she is trying to write a story on a suspicious suicide. Cue the non-funny banter between the two as Boyd chases after his ex-wife through a racetrack, through a casino, and locking her in the trunk of his car and handcuffing her to a bed along the way as they try and outwit each other. Simultaneously, Boyd is being chased by people with whom he is in debt while Hurley is being chased by people wishing to snuff her out of her investigation. As you might have already guessed, over the course of the movie, their hateful repartee is only superficial as they realize that they still have feelings for each other after being married and divorced in a nine month time span.
Jennifer Aniston, despite the meek dialogue, always brings her signature charismatic persona to all her roles, so even as she (quite cruelly) dismisses the come-ons of her co-worker in one of the films dismal subplots, it doesn’t seem quite as mean. She is always playing with her hair in the film, which becomes increasingly grating and is not to be mistaken for actual acting. Gerard Butler, as aforementioned, is just plain obnoxious. One can only hope that his current film roles don’t encourage a generation of the cocky, egomaniacal male protagonists in an action comedy film. By the time his “sensitivity” is supposed to show, it just doesn’t seem genuine because Butler is very good playing the cocky scumbag. Butler should probably stay away from these type of roles from now, they’re getting increasingly transparent and annoying.
It is undeniable, however, that these two do provide some type of chemistry to the film, it’s not to be completely overlooked. Provided with better material and perhaps a plot with more substance, fireworks could fly, but the film buckles under the pen of first time screenwriter Sarah Thorp because a stronger script would have done wonders. Disappointingly though, Butler and Aniston try and squeeze something out of the thin script, but nothing can be done. This film is barely worth the two hours. By the time the conclusion arrives, you don’t care anymore. You’ve seen it all before, and it remains completely predictable. Butler and Aniston may have been able to combat this pratfall, but it just doesn’t work. While Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz were able to successfully pull off this feat in 2008’s “What Happens in Vegas,” “The Bounty Hunter” just falls flat.
Rating: One star
Where To Find It: Don’t bother.
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