The Bounty Hunter
Director Andy Tennant (Fool’s Gold, Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama) brings to life another mediocre comedy filled with clichés, forgettable characters, and a predictable story with little room for character development. It’s not that The Bounty Hunter is the worst romantic comedy I’ve ever seen, it’s just extremely average. I was actually a little excited to see this flick. I’m a fan of Gerard Butler, plus Jennifer Aniston looks smoking hot in the trailer. Unfortunately, my excitement quickly turned into boredom.
The story is pretty standard, a bounty hunter named Milo’s (Gerard Butler) luck changes for the better when he gets assigned to pick up his ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston), who recently jumped bail to follow a lead on a story she’s working on (she’s a reporter if you haven’t figured that out by now). Only, it doesn’t take long for the lead Nicole (Aniston/Ex-wife) is following, and Milo’s gambling debts to quickly blow up in their faces. Thrown in for good measure are car chases, gun fights, lame jokes.
I know your thinking to yourself, that’s not so bad, and your right, it isn’t so bad, but it is a movie we as movie fans have seen a dozen times before. Hell, in this reviewer’s opinion cliché isn’t always a bad thing, but int he case of The Bounty Hunter it was compounded by the lack of character development. Butler and Aniston are both top-notch actors that have proven themselves time and again, but in this flick their chemistry isn’t just weak it’s nonexistent. The other characters suffer from lack of development as well. A good example would be Jimmy (Adam Rose), the snitch that sets the bad guys on Aniston and Butler. Rose is a solid actor that could have added extra depth to his character, but was instead just used as a plot device to get the leads into the action.
While at times I was reminded of solid films like, Seems Like Old Times or Bird on a Wire it didn’t take long for those memories to fade, only to be replaced by tired jokes and bad chemistry. The Bounty Hunter isn’t a complete washout, but if I could I’d have waited and added it to my Netflix queue, because it wasn’t even close to being a killer film.
Rating: 
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This is very disappointing… not just that the Bounty Hunter stunk, but more so because I think all, if not most, of Jennifer Aniston’s movies since Marley & Me have been unappealing to me and I am the so the demographic that these movies are supposed to appeal to.
Someone in Hollywood please figure out a way to cast Ms. Aniston in another movie like The Break-Up or The Object of My Affection. I am desperately trying to remain on Team Aniston but these last few movies have made me want to jump ship.
I used to dig on Aniston during her time in FRIENDS, but I haven’t enjoyed many of her movies, although I did dig THE BREAKUP. THE BOUNTY HUNTER isn’t terrible, just very weak. I’d recommend renting it.