Mar. 24, 2010 - Issue #753: Zion I
Film Capsules
The Bounty Hunter
Aniston's character—whose name really doesn't matter, because let's face it, all we ever see is Jennifer Aniston playing herself—is a reporter with a lead on a murder cover-up, and the recent ex-wife to Milo Boyd, Gerard Butler's character. In a bizarre turn of events, Milo the Bounty Hunter is offered $5000 to throw Aniston in jail for missing a court appearance over a traffic violation—and so the annoying games begin.
Reveling at the chance to get back at his ex, Butler produces an overload of timed one-liners that he struggles to enunciate because he's a Scottish actor playing an American cop. While he's easy on the eyes, his interactions with Aniston are hard to watch. Reminiscent of Aniston's spot in 2006's The Break Up with Vince Vaughn, the two characters' petty arguing just isn't funny. In fact, it's downright irritating. The Bounty Hunter even pulls on the same strings as its Break Up predecessor by forcing the two main characters into an unavoidable "battle of the exes" scenario, but The Break Up does it better, and that isn't saying much.
Not only is their on-screen chemistry lacking, but their attempts at mustering up some emotion from the audience are completely lost in the unnecessarily complicated plot twists. When Aniston starts crying over memories of their honeymoon at Cupid's Cabin, we are distracted by some weak extenuating factors, such as Butler's apparent gambling problem, the blurry murder case and Aniston's bad driving (not to mention her eternally perfect hair and intense tan). The flakey plot details prove this film an exploitation of its audience and a mere manufactured money-grab for the entertainment industry.
That aside, credit must be given to the supporting cast, who try to lift this film to a bearable level. Christine Baranski, most recently seen on the television series The Good Wife, plays Aniston's dirty mother, delivering promiscuous lines and asking her daughter to take photos of Milo's bare behind. Meanwhile, the always-funny Siobhan Fallon plays a secretary with an amusing lisp, rolling her tongue over some pretty mesmerizing lips. Unfortunately their screen time is short and we're forced to listen to Aniston repeatedly call Butler a "jerk" for kicks. Yup, we've seen it all before, and we hope to never see it again.
The Bounty Hunter
Directed by Andy Tenant
Written by Sarah Thorp
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler
Possibly related stories
New comments for this entry have been turned off and any existing ones are hidden. We apologize for any inconvenience.
