Film Review: The Bounty Hunter
If you’ve ever had the niggling feeling, the uncertain suspicion, the faintest glow of concern that Gerard Butler really can’t act, then The Bounty Hunter may be all the proof you need. He doesn’t single-handedly sink the ship, the script and direction are his partners in crime. Poor old Jennifer Aniston seems to be the only one flailing around with a bucket, trying to keep the thing afloat. And that, I promise, is the end of my Extended Boat Metaphor.
Butler plays Milo, a former cop-turned bounty hunter who’s just been handed his dream assignment. He has to bring in his reporter ex-wife Nicole (Aniston) after she skips bail to follow a juicy lead on a story. Of course, Nicole isn’t going to take that lying down. Crotch-punching and taser-use ensue, and in almost every scene someone somewhere is handcuffed to something. To make matters more interesting (you know, like those wolves in The Day After Tomorrow) Nicole is being hunted by a brutal drug dealer and Milo is trying to escape a couple of inept debt collectors (because Milo has a gambling addiction that’s played for laughs).
Gerard Butler should never be forced to do any accent but his own. He seems so intent on swallowing every word like a mouthful of walnuts that the fact that he’s peforming in a movie has slipped his mind. When he did remember it led to horrific overacting that included an idiotic, lengthy victory dance that was in no way charming or likeable. Aniston does much better, and if nothing the whole enterprise serves as a reminder that she’s a very gifted comic actress in search of material that will do her justice. Even her reaction shots are better than any of Butler’s alleged zingers.
The script offers almost zero climax, and supporting characters are given very little to work with. A former colleague of Milo’s is put in mortal peril, but as the audience doesn’t know anything substantial about the character it’s hard to really care. The magnificent Christine Baranski is a highlight in her few scenes as Nicole’s mum.
Overall the whole thing plays like an episode on television. It has a grand conspiracy that isn’t particularly grand, and it has an alleged twist that lacks the vital twist element of being surprising. The couple spends so much time sprinting to new locations we never get to focus on the two of them together. One dinner scene hints at the chemistry Butler and Aniston could have had, but you spend the rest of the time wondering what they ever saw in each other to begin with.
The Bounty Hunter isn’t a painful train crash like The Ugly Truth or Valentine’s Day, but it is a bland, barely romantic, and only occasionally funny RomCom. Jennifer Aniston deserves better material, and Gerard Butler might want to consider acting classes.
Australian Release Date: 18th of March 2010
Director: Andy Tennat
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler, Christine Baranski
