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The Bounty Hunter

movies|the%20bounty%20hunter|2010-03-18
Milo Boyd, a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter, gets his dream job when he is assigned to track down his bail-jumping ex-wife, reporter Nicole Hurly. He thinks all that's ahead is an easy payday, but when Nicole gives him the slip so she can chase a lead on a murder cover-up, Milo realizes that nothing ever goes simply with him and Nicole. The exes continually one-up each other - until they find themselves on the run for their lives. They thought their promise to love, honor and obey was tough - staying alive is going to be a whole lot tougher.

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Editorial


Note well: There is a rule in cinema that if you have a film so massively bad it could tank at the box office you (a) tell the tabloids the co-stars are an item way before the film is released, for a bit of pre-publicity hype or (b) decide that it should go straight to DVD and cut your losses.

To say this film should have suffered plan (b) but actually has been marketed using plan (a) is just one of The Bounty Hunter's problem. Another is that it got made in the first place.

The story such as it is, has Milo (Butler), an ex-cop turned for-rent bounty hunter, getting his bail-jumping ex-wife, reporter Nicole (Aniston) as his latest job. Welcome to the first of countless jaw-droppingly unbelievable coincidences. Milo believes karma has never been so easily served. But when Nicole gives him the slip so she can further investigate a murder cover-up, Milo realises nothing ever goes simply between the couple. Yawn. Cue plot twists so convoluted as to give viewers a migraine.

Director Andy Tennant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama) spends so much time filming the talent in close-up he forgets to tighten the film into a snappy and cohesive whole. What we end up with are incoherent sub-plots and paint-by-numbers plot points. Aniston's performance is more a series of hair flicks and other ticks than an actual characterisation. How Nicole put up with the juvenile behaviour of Milo when they were married is the film's biggest mystery.

Butler is all smirks and empty machismo in a role that supposedly works to his comic timing. The absence of laughs, and vital spark between the autopilot leads, throughout The Bounty Hunter strongly refutes any positive promotional material you may encounter about this disastrous Hollywood venture.

Adrian Drayton

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Harry Georgatos
February 24, 2010


Aniston's acting skills are limited to romantic comedy's and sitcoms. Her performance in DERAILED was hopelessly pathetic. Andy Tennant is a hoplessly pathetic director and THE BOUNTY HUNTER will be a hopelessly bland and empty movie, with another hopeless performance from Aniston. Aniston can thank her expert manipulation of the tabloids for sustaining her career in Hollywood. At least Angelina Jolie has genuine star-power and acting chops.

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