The Bounty Hunter (Blu-Ray)

July 23, 2010

Director: Andy Tennant,
Starring: Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston, Gio Perez, Joel Garland, Jason Kolotouros, Matt Malloy, Jason Sudeikis, Adam Rose, Christine Baranski, Dorian Missick, David Costabile, Lynda Gravatt, Peter Greene, Jeff Garlin, Siobhan Fallon,

Rate The Bounty Hunter (Blu-Ray) DVD Release:

(No Ratings Yet)

DVD Review

Darren Jamieson +

Just what is it with Jennifer Aniston? She’s been married to one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, she’s an incredibly beautiful woman, she has hair that most women would kill for, she has a great figure, she’s had a hugely successful TV career and she can, when she puts her mind to it, act.

Yet for some reason it’s never quite happened for her. She’s never had that breakthrough film that other actresses of a similar ilk (Sandra Bullock for example) managed to get. Of course, she’s hardly helping herself on that front as she seems to play the same character in every film she’s in. Perhaps she’s just given up and realised that she’ll always be ‘Rachel from Friends’, so why try and fight it anymore?

Whatever the reason, she’ll no doubt make a decent living churning out the same sort of film year after year and, as she still looks incredible well into her forties, she can probably make this career last a while longer yet.

It’s just a shame in my opinion because I’d like to see her try something different, whether that be out and out action or a dramatic role, but I think I’ll be disappointed.

Gerard Butler on the other hand seems to be able to try his hand to anything, and his dabbling in the romantic comedy genre is a welcome sight for someone who, let’s face it, isn’t pretty-boy styled guy you usually see in these films.

So, the two main stars aside, what of the film? The Bounty Hunter takes the premise of something that every guy who’s ever been divorced would dream about doing. Milo (Butler) is a bounty hunter. His job is to bring people in to custody when they skip out on bail, usually for fairly minor charges such as driving offenses. He’s down on his luck (having divorced his wife) and lives like a bum – no surprise perhaps that he used to be a cop.

Nicole Hurley (Aniston), his ex-wife, is doing much better for herself. She’s a successful reporter and she’s working on a big story that could expose police corruption and a murder that nobody knew had been committed. However, she’s also due in court for assaulting a police officer – a court appointment that she misses.

You can guess the next part. Milo is given the task of bringing his ex-wife into custody, a task that he attacks with the relish of a man wanting to finally get even – legally.

Naturally she doesn’t go quietly, and two play cat and mouse for a while until Milo realises that firstly, he still loves her and secondly, someone is trying to kill her. Anniston plays this role as she’s played every role beforehand, as an older, not so wiser, version of Rachel from Friends. Gerard Butler seems to be enjoying himself (rumours of a real-life romance on set between the two may explain why) and his infectious enthusiasm shines through on film. Anniston does get to be seductive in a few scenes however, such as when she straddles Butler while handcuffed on the bed in an attempt to snatch his ‘weapon’, and when she counters a tattoo parlour secretary’s dismissive comments about how she can find pilates classes across the street by describing, in graphic details, a full body leopard tattoo that she wants to have.

All in all, The Bounty Hunter is a pretty by-the-numbers romantic comedy where two former lovers find that they’re still in love, while someone tries to kill them – much like ‘Did You Hear About The Morgans?’, which was released in the same year, and even has a trailer on this Blu-Ray.

There’s nothing really new here, but it is very entertaining. It is shame however that Nicole’s mother Kitty (Christine Baranski) didn’t feature more in the film, as her three (yes just three) scenes were all stand out moments.

Darren Jamieson

Darren has enjoyed an interest in film for many years, studying the subject at Newport Film School where he worked on the film ‘Cop on the Edge IX: Prelude to Justice‘ in a directing and acting capacity. The official site can be enjoyed here. Darren setup WhatDVD.Net in 2003 to further his love of films and to write passionately about the movies he enjoys, and about those that he doesn’t.

Although his day-to-day activities mean that he now has less time to review movies than he would ideally prefer, he still tries to review new releases, and DVDs from his extensive collection, whenever possible.
view all DVD reviews by Darren Jamieson