Bounty Hunter, The (Review)

BOUNTY HUNTER, THE
(3/19/10; Comedy, Action)
Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler, Christine Baranski, Jason Sudeikis
SCR: Sarah Thorp
DIR: Andy Tennant
MPAA: PG-13 for sexual content including suggestive comments, language and some violence.
1 hour 50 mins
BOX: $64,696,084

Butler is a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter assigned to bring in his bail-jumping ex-wife (Aniston), who also happens to be a reporter investigating a suicide case that she believes was a murder. What do you want to wager that once the initial rounds of squabbling subside, they will be team up to solve this mystery, and that there will be more arguing, running and repressed chemistry?

In the past, these generic romantic action flicks would have starred Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn; more recently, Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson (director Tennant’s previous film was the latter’s 2008 Fool’s Gold).

Either way, these loud, forced confections do nobody any favors: not the production team and certainly not the audience. Frankly, I have no idea what Butler is doing. After a smattering of interesting roles (300, The Phantom of the Opera), he’s dived headlong into a series of easy paychecks (Gamer, Law Abiding Citizen, The Ugly Truth) in disposable flicks.

Frankly, he’s most entertaining as a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. (Columbia)

— DENNIS WILLIS

Author: Dennis Willis

Dennis Willis is an award-winning producer, TV host, producer, director, editor (he preferred Avid until a torrid affair with Adobe Premiere, and the rest is history), author and film critic (print and radio). Dennis produced and hosted the TV programs Reel Life, FilmTrip, Soundwaves (1983-2008) and produces the annual Soundwaves Xmas program. He is currently the film critic on KGO Radio in San Francisco, and a member of both the San Francisco Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

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