Mature adults have long history of pain, suffering

AT THE SAWMILL: The Bounty Hunter

By Andy McKinney
Gazette/Connection Critic

The teasers for “The Bounty Hunter” show skip chaser-AKA bounty hunter-Gerald Butler dumping his ex-wife into the trunk of a car. This is an appealing image to millions of men involved in acrimonious divorce disputes.

It isn’t enough to maintain an entire movie, one billed as an action comedy. It would be more accurate to call it an action, romantic-comedy.

The heart of the film is the relationship between the Butler character and his former wife, superbly crafted by Jennifer Aniston. It is on this basis that the film succeeds.

A cruel fate, or a bail bondsman with a twisted sense of humor, sends Butler to bring in his reporter ex to face a traffic charge. She bumped a policeman’s horse and then failed to show up for trial. One of the running jokes is her poor driving skills. She is in the process of investigating a possible homicide that the cops have suspiciously declared a suicide when Butler nabs her. A further complication is the angry casino operative that sends goons to collect gambling debts owed by Butler.

That accounts for the action part. The real deal is the two ill-fated lovers who try to find their way back to each other. This is where Aniston shows the depth of her acting skills.

The pair are not teens struck with first love. The formerly married couple are fully mature adults with a long history of pain and suffering, not the least of which they have inflicted upon each other. It takes time to peel back the layers of protection that they each have built around their hearts.

Aniston plays a tough big city gal who is not easily nor quickly persuaded to take one more risk with her ex-husband. Having bad guys of different casts trying to capture or kill them helps bring them closer in the end.

I last saw Aniston in “Failure to Launch” and Butler in “The Ugly Truth.” I enjoyed both of those films and reviewed each of them favorably. The chemistry between the two leads and particularly the subtle acting of Aniston allowed me to enjoy “The Bounty Hunter” even more.

Director Andy Tennant knows how to build this sort of a film without getting in his actors way. He oversaw such hits as “Hitch” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” I wish him equal success with “The Bounty Hunter.”

This PG-13 rated film has so far grossed a middling $50 million against a budget of $40 million. There is violence in this movie but no naked folk or horrible language. It runs a quick one hour and 46 minutes. It deserves a strong three and a half saw blades.

Next week, when the crowds thin out a bit, I hope to see “Clash of the Titans.”