Milo (Gerard Butler) and Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) were only married a few years before divorcing because he was such a pompous jerk. Nothing much has changed since, except that he's no longer a cop in the NYPD, having been fired for the same sort of immature behavior that cost him his marriage.
Nowadays, he plies his trade as a bounty hunter, rounding up fugitives from justice for Sid (Jeff Garlin), a bail bondsman who hates the idea of losing any of the money he posts for a defendant. Milo has no reason to believe that his ex might be one of his boss' clients; after all, she's a very successful, investigative journalist who's never landed on the wrong side of the law.
But she did get arrested for ignoring a pile of parking tickets, and then relied on Sid's services to get out of jail. However, she subsequently failed to show up in court, so Sid finds himself facing the prospect of losing the $50,000 he put up as collateral.
Milo gets the shock of his life the Friday he learns that his latest assignment is to track down Nicole. Of course, this proves easier said than done, after all, he still has feelings for her and would rather reconcile than send her up the river. On top of that, she's currently close to cracking the case of the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy (Adam Rose), the bartender at a local haunt named O'Doul's.
Nicole passes herself off as Jimmy's girlfriend, Lakeesha, to slip past his suspicious landlady (Jayne Houdyshell) in order to snoop around his apartment for more clues. However, before Nicole has a chance to get to the bottom of the story, guess who shows up and places her in handcuffs.
What ensues is a battle of the exes which fails to do justice to either the romantic comedy or crime caper genre. For it's never really established why Nicole would want a Neanderthal like Milo back. Nor is the missing persons whodunit the least bit compelling.
Between the lack of chemistry between the romantic leads and the absence of tension in the whodunit, The Bounty Hunter amounts to little more than a great time killer for folks who needs help being bored.
Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, violence and sexuality.
Running time: 110 Minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: A trio of featurettes: "The Making of The Bounty Hunter," "Rules for Outwitting a Bounty Hunter!" and "Stops Along the Road: Hunting Locations."
To see a trailer for The Bounty Hunter, click play:
Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee. Contact him through NewsBlaze.
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