From the director of Hitch(2005), The Bounty Hunter claims to be an ‘action romantic comedy’ casting two renowned, physically attractive actors as the lead roles; albeit not quite ‘Brangelina’. Advertising the general concept of “putting your ex in jail:  best job ever”, the film attempts to entice its adolescent audience with the ditzy, promiscuous former Friends star as supposedly having an awkward yet playful, on-screen relationship with the grizzly bear who had emphasised the ‘argh’ in Sparta.

The Plot

Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) is a failed police officer, turned bounty hunter. Having lost all that may be considered valuable, including investigative reporter wife Nicole Hurley (Jennifer Aniston), Boyd lives aimlessly, using his ‘masculinity’ and unrefined façade to mask his misery and loneliness. His futile life appears to be unexpectedly eventful when he is assigned the task of arresting Hurley for malingering her trial of a traffic felony.

The previously-married pair bicker and banter through the lane (or cabin, rather) of memories, but when Boyd discovers his ex-wife’s pursuit on a suspicious ‘suicide’ story, he involves himself further in her actions. As the episodes enrich and the characters complicate, the feuding yet flirting duo find themselves in a much more troublesome and life-threatening situation than being legally bound three years earlier.

The Thoughts

Having been ashamedly caught in the ‘Mr and Mrs Jolie-Pitt’ hype, I raised an eyebrow when I had read that ‘golden girl’ Ms Aniston was getting revenge on her horrendous heartbreak by starring against the stocky Gerard Butler, whose popularity and sex-appeal is undoubtedly inching up in Hollywood, in a film that is embarrassingly similar to her rival and ex-husband’s sexy-but-stupid Mr. & Mrs. Smith(2005).

The Bounty Hunter began with unfunny one-liners and a graceless Gerard Butler gallivanting around in a short-sleeved, checked shirt which did little else than compare him to a boar with belittled clothing. The obvious intention was to make him appear slobbery and sleazy; admittedly this was one of the few aspects where the film did not fail. As I pityingly watched him humiliate himself on the big screen, I helplessly reminisced about his previous, more respected role of King Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s 300 and wondered about the ridiculous switch to rom-coms.

Jennifer Aniston appears shortly afterwards, yet after five minutes of observing her strut, flick and pout, I snap back into reality comprehending why she was cast for this role. The minuscule amount of hope I was clinging on to prior to the movie, of perhaps an improvement in her acting skills on the big screen as opposed to small, had disappeared faster than my popcorn. Constantly clad in svelte, dark-coloured, appropriately-cut outfits which fit better than her own skin, it became evident that her astonishingly sculpted limbs, heavily tanned complexion and significantly blonder hair made up the majority of her ammunition.

The chemistry between the pair possibly deserves the most credit; it appeared convincing and fairly entertaining for the greater part of the film, and it seemed as though the ‘friendly banter’ was just as likely off-screen. The couple perform comparatively well together considering Butler and Aniston are one of the most unlikely co-stars in a film of this genre, although I felt appalled watching the rare ‘action’ scenes which could probably have been heightened with a home-camera and an amateur director.

The dialogue is relatively limited and dull, the plot is as predictable as the half-naked shot of Gerard Butler glistening after a shower, and director Andy Tennant disappointingly scatters clichés throughout the movie as if he was feeding them to pigeons. I sniggered just once during the entire 112 minutes and cringed for the rest of it: this was definitely a poor man’s Mr & Mrs Smith - as if we were lacking embarrassing films with the only viewing pleasure being skin-deep.

The Film Buzz Review Rating: 5/10

UK Release Date: 17th March 2010

Director: Andy Tennant

Writer’s: Sarah Thorp

Links: IMDB, Official Site