Reviews

Ouch:

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?s=12169094&clienttype=printable


Butler & Anniston star in "The Bounty Hunter."

(NBC) - For a long time in romantic comedies, and in real life, too, it seemed as if women wanted men who could be strong and sensitive at the same time, who could give as good as they got but when it came down to it knew how to turn on the old-fashioned courtly charm.

Well, say hello to the Gerard Butler era.

The grizzled, potato-faced Scottish hunk doesn't just look like a modern-day caveman.

He acts like one too.

In "The Ugly Truth" he taught Katherine Heigl that what women really want is a good old male chauvinist alpha brute, and now, in "The Bounty Hunter" he teaches the same lesson, with even less nuance, to Jennifer Aniston.

The two play a couple who've already been married and divorced.

He's a bounty hunter, and she's a reporter who got arrested for assaulting a police officer.

When she skips a court date to pursue a murder case, he has to retrieve her and bring her to jail.

The scenario may be as contrived as they come, but for most of "The Bounty Hunter", I certainly believed that these two hate each other.

The trouble with the movie is what we want to see is why these two really love each other.

Butler is certainly convincing in scenes where he has to lock Aniston in the trunk of his car, chain her to a motel-room bed, or rag on her for nothing in particular.

He's like Ralph Kramden in the body of Kirk Douglas.

Aniston is her usual sweetly feisty and appealing self, but if you're wondering what brings these two together, the answer isn't chemistry, exactly.

It's solving a crime.

In "The Bounty Hunter" the couple that foils a bunch of tiresome grade-C thriller goons together stays together.

Whether or not that's a recipe for love, it's certainly not a formula for romantic-comedy magic.

Yowza!


http://thescorecardreview.com/review/film-reviews/2010/03/19/the-bounty-hunter/9243

The Bounty Hunter

PLOT: A bounty hunter (Butler) struggles to keep his ex-wife (Aniston) under control when he is assigned to bring her in for skipping bail.

WHO’S IT FOR?: I am not going to advocate the disappointment, waste of money, and loss of time that is promoted by this miserable experience. Before becoming a tragic witness to this disaster’s laziness, I could only imagine the indifference the creators had when settling on the no-flare title “The Bounty Hunter.” It is astounding that they didn’t keep up with the hot trend of ruining Beatles songs and title this sucker “For No One.” Either way, fellow moviegoer – Aniston and Butler committed the crime, and you shouldn’t do the time.

EXPECTATIONS: Compared to his jaunt down Misogyny Lane during last summer’s The Ugly Truth, Butler was more romantic in 300. Here, I wondered if he could bring a new low to a job he doesn’t even deserve in the first place.

SCORECARD (0-10)

ACTORS:

Gerard Butler as Milo: The wholly unromantic Butler alternates between bimbo and boy in this role that makes him out to be (even more so) the last on-screen persona that anyone should ever want to get hitched to. A 14-year-old who just got dumped by his first girlfriend is the only suitable match to Milo’s immaturity about relationships. Co-starring with a gun, Butler is no better, especially when the “action” scenes are as blank as his piggish quips or giddy chuckles about having to haul in his ex-wife.
Score: 2

Jennifer Aniston as Nicole Hurley: Compared to Butler, she is not as serious an offender. She’s still a vanilla love interest, even when doing “radical things” like tazing someone or stealing a 17-year-old’s bike. In a sneaky fashion, Aniston realizes that perhaps if her performance is bland enough, she’ll become invisible in the sea of problems that make The Bounty Hunter.
Score: 2

Jason Sudeikis as Stewart: The constantly grinning SNL-cast member plays the mustached dorky foil to the supposedly cool Butler. Stewart is a delusional suitor who fails at making the audience even giggle with his naïve declarations of love to Nicole, as she is completely oblivious to her lack of interest. Annoyed with his unflattering shtick and pink sweaters, she tries to block him out of her mind, and so do we.
Score: 1

TALKING: The relationship of Milo and Nicole would grab some sort of attention if it were presented in biting dialogue, with the two firing at each other with clever words in a true screwball style. However, wit seems to be a challenge for a movie like The Bounty Hunter, so the only form of biting banter can be felt whenever someone makes a random, if somewhat unfair jab at Aniston’s age.
Score: 2

SIGHTS: The Bounty Hunter makes movie history by featuring the first on-screen deletion of a TiVo program (if you can name another film with such an action, I’d like to know.) No other visual moment compares to this particular milestone. The car-chase is lazy, and the final “showdown” lasts about thirty seconds. Comedian Jeff Garlin is in this movie, but is only on-screen for two scenes. Perhaps he just needed enough money for a TiVo?
Score: 1

SOUNDS: Taking a cue from the other worst film of the year, Percy Jackson: Stupid Movie, Long Title, this movie uses Ke$ha’s song “Tik Tok” in a gambling scene, despite the tune having no lyrical references to casinos, Rain Man, etc. It is worth noting, however, that this movie steps it up and puts a second song by Ke$ha at the end – a similar sounding “ballad” called “Your Love is My Drug.” Also, for no good reason, a modern dance-pop version of “Staylin’ Alive” by the BeeGees can be heard in one scene. I am certain that this caused Maurice Gibb to roll in his grave so much that he became a zombie. I’d wish for him to eat the brains of whoever thought that song needed an update, but I doubt Zombie Maurice Gibb would have much to chew on.
Score: 2

PLOT SPOILERS

BEST SCENE: There is no good moment in this movie. Scientifically, this then cancels out the proposition of having to choose a scene that can be considered the “best.” My brain is further stumped in that I can’t say that my theatre going experience was any better than watching The Bounty Hunter, as the outstandingly professional projectionist had the wrong lens size for about the first minute of the public screening. It wasn’t as frustrating as the time I saw a pre-screening of Frost/Nixon at the same place, only to have the final interview scene complimented by the time-killer trivia questions playing over Frank Langella’s face, but it was close.

ENDING: My flashback to “Arrested Development” brought me the only comfort I experienced sitting through this garbage – “No touching!” A fellow, more seasoned film critic shared a similar look of frustrated disbelief as the credits started rolling. However, he looked as if he had just walked into his kitchen, only to see that all his cats had been set on fire, and that the smoke detector didn’t even go off.

QUESTIONS: Perhaps I was too busy dreaming of Boba Fett to catch this, but what happened between these two? It just didn’t work out?

REWATCHABILITY: Never. If my ankle were to be chained to a wall with The Bounty Hunter playing across the room on TNT, I would proudly saw through my leg bone in order to change the channel to reruns of The Wolfman en Espanol instead.

OVERALL

If I wanted to watch a movie about a manipulative man and woman becoming an unlikely couple through a series of wacky situations, I’d stay home, eat some cookies, and watch His Girl Friday, or any other screwball comedy that fails to be copied by the painful The Bounty Hunter. But I suppose even the consideration of what makes a good odd couple is beyond the brain-cell count of this movie. The Bounty Hunter equals its amount of chemistry with laughs (0.0%). A script like The Bounty Hunter seems to feed off movie clichés, while it takes its two unlikable characters through a series of unfunny situations (golf cart chase, bike chase) and offers them dialogue that is equally witless. The side stories like Milo’s gambling debt, Nicole’s bail dilemma, and a kidnapping, are all overlooked for a predictable storyline of their second chance at “love.” Then, the movie has the absolute audacity to put its last action sequence in a shady-looking warehouse. This is a cliche that speaks about more than just the tone of a particular scene. It confirms the Hunter’s intended forfeit of quality, and champions the high degree of laziness that stinks up the entire picture. The criminals that created this massive insult don’t seem to care about this movie, and neither should we.

FINAL SCORE: 1/10

Sometimes you gotta wonder, what kind of movies these critics like? Are they movies that people would actually go to pay and see? Are they the kind of critics who are snobbish if you don't know the best international films?

Do they even matter? As long as fans of both stars show up, does it matter what the critics say?

And nowadays, anyone online can be a critic.

Saw a photo gallery on Yahoo listing best and worst in film so far this year. They list JA in Bounty Hunter as Worst Actress, and runner-up Worst Actor is Tom Cruise in Kniight and Day. Worst Actor is John Travolta.

I finally got to watch The Bounty Hunter. Loved the movie, but Gerry needs to shave once in awhile. He's very handsome, but to me the unshaved look makes him look like a bum. Still, I enjoyed the movie. I would love romantic comedies much more if the leading men shaved.

I'm not a Jennifer Aniston fan, but she and Gerry had great chemistry together on the screen.

I hope Gerry makes more movies of this kind, but with a clean shave. I'll be hoping and waiting.

Ok, I'm gonna say it, forgive if you've heard the same thing before...

I do prefer Gman to keep unshaven. There's something about a clean shaven Gman that my brain cannot associate him as the same person. But then POTO wasn't my first experience with Gman...Attila was. Even in the same show, it was incredulous to me to see the Roman Attila from the wild Attila.

To me, men who don't shave look like shit. It used to be that way for generations, until the media forced scruffy on the public & brainwashed everyone into thinking it was fashionable. I hate it!

The media brainwashes the public into falling for the most disgustung things, and it works, just like "The Emperor's New Clothes". That's today's world.

I believe beards and facial hair styles have gone in and out of fashion in the ages. It wasn't that long ago...a little over 100 years ago, that long beards were fashionable. Plus styles in different parts of the world cannot be compared. Just because we in the states think something is unattractive, doesn't mean it isn't stylish in another country.

There's just something about Gman's face, to me, that doesn't look right when he's clean shaven. It's like he's a completely different person...someone I can't recognize.

I don't think it's really the media's fault, because not all people with facial hair are attractive to me. I think it's preference...and I prefer Gman with fuzz. Brad Pitt looks better clean shaven to me.

I have no preference with the guy in my icon and signature. He looks great either way. Some guys can carry both looks.

Back to a review - a bad one at that.

http://calitreview.com/11042

A Film and Television Blog
Catching Up With 2010: The Bounty Hunter
by William Bibbiani
August 14th, 2010 at 9:54 pm

Certain films are so pedestrian, so middle of the road, so damned mediocre that they’re not even worth talking about. With that said, let’s review The Bounty Hunter. Lord knows I never pretended to value my time. Nor, apparently, did the makers of The Bounty Hunter. Nor indeed anybody who actually paid to see this dreck (myself included).

Gerard Butler stars as Milo Boyd, a former police officer turned bounty hunter who ends up hunting down his ex-wife after she skips bail to uncover a police conspiracy. Jennifer Aniston plays Nicole, the ex-wife. There’s an undeniable appeal in the concept, which may not exactly be “high” but does provide lots of opportunities for madcap antics. Or at least it would, if director Andy Tennant didn’t completely phone this baby in.

There’s a thin line between a comedic adventure with a romantic subplot and a romantic comedy with a subplot based in adventure. Aside from Romancing The Stone, the latter almost never works (not that the former has an impeccable track record either). Andy Tennant previously tried to navigate those waters in Fool’s Gold, a pathetic attempt to combine The Deep with every romantic comedy ever made. After watching The Bounty Hunter, it becomes abundantly clear that he learned nothing whatsoever from the experience.

As a romantic comedy, The Bounty Hunter manages to be neither romantic nor even remotely funny. Every tired cliché makes a cameo appearance, yet none of them bothered to do their job. Aniston and Butler’s marriage fell apart before start of the film, so of course the only reason for their break-up must have been because they were “too” perfect for each other. They bicker in a manner only found in bad movies. There’s even a moment when Aniston wraps Butler around her finger by challenging his ego, which he must instantly defend in an outlandish way because it’s the sort of thing Clark Gable could get away with in the 1930’s. Times of have changed, of course, and their behavior careens past Implausible Junction and crash lands right into Dumb As Hell Central.

As an action-adventure, The Bounty Hunter largely suffers because it’s a romantic comedy. Guns are fired, but bullets never hit anybody until the climax (and even then it’s only a flesh wound). People are tortured, but in such a good-natured fashion that the victim is not only left alive, but 50% of the time are allowed to leave with their dignity – and memory of the perpetrators’ faces – completely intact. Half of the antagonists have nothing to do with the story. They’re just Gerard Butler’s comic relief bookies who ineptly bounce around the film with signs around their necks reading “Sorry, We’re Just Here To Pad The Film.” (Incidentally, it says a lot about the makers of The Bounty Hunter that they thought their romantic comedy could use some comic relief.)

The two genres rarely occupy the same space in equal measure. One wonders why anyone even bothered. The plot is simple enough that a talented cast – which Aniston and Butler have previously been part of, albeit separately – could carry it easily. Aniston jumps bail due to a misunderstanding. Butler, the aggrieved ex-husband, accepts the bounty and uses the opportunity to take petty revenge on the woman who broke his heart. Her fight-or-flight response could have easily been attributed to the antagonistic nature of her opponent. She’ll be damned, for example, if she’ll be taken in by her ex. Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant could have done wonders with the scenario using only the sheer force of their overconfident swaggers. Butler on the other hand appears to have been directed to play his character as an uncomfortably pathetic shell of a man, while Aniston was apparently given the suggestion “Milquetoast” and told to just run with it.

But really, any review of The Bounty Hunter could begin and end very quickly if you follow one single law of film criticism:

THE QUALITY OF A ROMANTIC COMEDY IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE NUMBER OF CONTEMPORARY POP SONGS ON THE SOUNDTRACK.

Under this law, The Bounty Hunter was destined to suck. Among the pop “hits” that make an appearance: “Fire Burning” by Sean Kingston, “Rich” by Lolene, “Tik Tok” and “Your Love Is A Drug” by Ke$ha (add five points for two songs by the same artist), “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” by Cage The Elephant, “Get Fresh With You” by Teddybears featuring Red Fox, and “Staying Alive” by The Bee Gees, which would be okay except that it’s a remix by Teddybears (so plus five points for using the same artist twice, and plus ten points for using a good song but sullying it with a remix or cover).

Why is this a problem? Because music is a pervasive element of the filmmaking process. Choosing or composing an ideal piece of music to either complement or cleverly contrast with a specific scene, moment or even the entire narrative is a complicated art form unto itself. Using older songs or committing the entire film to the hands of a dedicated composer can backfire, but at least it implies that a certain amount of thought went into the storytelling. Someone sought out just the right piece of music to tell the story properly. Even if they end up not being able to afford their first choice, they have the ability to choose another.

But if a soundtrack is comprised entirely of music made within a few months of the film’s release – and wasn’t composed specifically for the film – then it becomes abundantly clear that the decision to include said music is a financial one. The story could not be told around these songs from the outset, nor could the filmmakers be confident that a song being released in the same month as their film would complement their narrative effectively. So inevitably the soundtrack becomes an obstacle to properly enjoying a piece of flighty popcorn entertainment, and it’s extremely difficult to imagine who benefits from this scenario. Certainly not the film, which suffers not only from half-assing an enormous part of the post-production process but also from musical choices which instantly and permanently date the film for future audiences.

Perhaps the music industry benefits somewhat if the film is a success, but if it isn’t (and romantic comedies rarely run away with the box office even if they’re profitable, so this eventuality is highly likely) all they’ve done is link what may be a perfectly decent piece of music to an inferior product in the audience’s minds. At best they have achieved in making these songs ubiquitous, but even that only serves to expedite the audience’s intolerance for the music in question. If a song is played everywhere, all the time, then no matter how much you liked it in the first place it will eventually grow tiresome. It’s a Lose-Lose situation for everybody, especially the audience.

The Bounty Hunter tries to be a jack of all trades, but is of course a master of none. Come to think of it, I’m not entirely confident that the filmmakers even know jack. It’s not completely unwatchable drivel, but it’s certainly drivel nonetheless.

Thanks Nay.

It always bothers me when ads use recent music to promote a film on TV and the song isn't even in the film.

Drives me crazy.

I happen to like that tik tok song, but there were at LEAST three romantic comedies using that song in their tv ads around the same time.

This blog cracked me up:

"The Bounty Hunter" or "How I knew in the first three minutes that this movie was going to suck donkey balls"

http://talesofridiculousness.blogspot.com/2010/08/bounty-hunter-or-how-i-knew-in-first.html

Wow, 3 groin punches in 3 minutes, plus a kick. That's more groin action than a South Park episode. I should see this movie.

Hahaha!! Nay watched it before I did! I still haven't seen it, can't bring myself to watch it yet.

I'm watching Fargo right now. Now that's a good movie.

Yah.

I saw it. I thought it was funny haha. It was campy. The overall plot is good. The supporting actors were quite good and played their roles well. I enjoyed the parts where there were other people in the scenes other than GB and JA. I didn't care much for GB or JA, but had to pay attention to them to hear the words and know what is going on. Way too much film time wasted on GB and JA. The only memorable GB/JA scene for me was GB stomping his foot in the car. I really like the shirt GB wore at the B&B. I have a teddy bear that's pieced together almost exactly like that. I need a screen shot of that shirt.

Bounty Hunter is on the Starz channels right now, so I see it shown a lot. I enjoyed it enough to have it on while I go through emails and forums and Warcraft. After the first watching, I gloss over most of the scenes that have just GB and JA. I like the rest of the cast much more. I can't watch GB chew his cheeks and lips when he talks. I can't watch JA because she looks like a still photo with moving mouths.

It's a cute little throwaway rom-com. I kept thinking "If only JA's character would have gone to court when she was supposed to, this movie wouldn't have to come into existence." Yes, I forgot her name.

I like BH better than TUT. BH has a better plot and much better supporting cast. I found TUT to be a lot stupider. I don't like eihter JA or CH. They don't act.

I watched Last Winter with Ron Perlman the other night. Now that's a BAD movie. I'm still in "What the heck?" mode from that.