The Bounty Hunter (www.the-usher.com)

"What's the hottest thing about me? That would be my gun."

After leaving the police force Milo Boyd (Butler) was making quite for himself as a bounty hunter. Paid to track down people who had skipped bail, Milo could track down anyone in no time flat but when his boss Sid (Garlin) gives him the bounty he has been waiting for. The latest person to skip out of their court appearance just happens to be the one person he would love to take to jail, his ex-wife Nicole (Aniston).

High concept romantic comedies have become the norm at the box office but it is very rare that one can combine action, comedy and romance to any success and ‘The Bounty Hunter’ isn’t one of those.

Trying to produce an action movie that will appeal to a male and female audience is very difficult to do. Mixing romance, comedy and action is a concoction that can lead to cinematic disaster, and has done more times than it has reaped box office gold. Bringing together ‘The Chick-Flick’ and the ‘Man Film’ is like bringing to opposing magnets together as they just force each other away to make a film that never knows what it wants to be. To satisfy either gender, the mix has to be perfect and this impossible task has not been completed by the latest Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston flick ‘The Bounty Hunter’.

The concept is one that is supposed to combine action, comedy and romance but in trying to appeal to that couples audience the movie loses direction. The action element comes from the fact that Jennifer Aniston’s character Nicole is a journalist who has discovered that a murder has been covered up and the people responsible are not wanting to kill her with gun fights and car chases ensuing because of this. The comedy comes from the fact that Gerard Butler’s character Milo has been hired as the bounty hunter of the title to bring Nicole, who just happens to be his ex-wife, back to justice after she skipped a court appearance to chase down a lead for her story. The romance, of course, comes from the fact that danger will bring the divorced couple back together to live happily ever after. While all of these elements are there, the execution by director Andy Tennant and his creative team is extremely average.

The one thing that keeps the movie from been a complete disaster is the chemistry between Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston. As Milo and Nicole the two playing off each other with great aplomb, with arguments turning into fights, turning into romance only working because the two work well together. The rest of the cast also try their best with Christine Baranski stealing every scene she inhabits as Nicole’s mother, even though she is only thirteen years Jennifer Aniston’s senior, Jeff Garlin has fun as Milo’s boss and Peter Greene always plays a decent villain.

With only the performances saving it from been a complete disaster, ‘The Bounty Hunter’ is another example of a failed high-concept Rom-Com. With the story dragging along and the predictability of it all ruining any enjoyment of the romantic element of it all, the movie is just the definition of ‘Average’.

Making The Bounty Hunter
Rules for Outwitting a Bounty Hunter
Stops Along The Road: Hunting Locations
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2010