Cinema

For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.

BELIEVE ME, THIS HURTS ME MORE THAT IT DOES YOU: Bounty hunter Milo (Gerard Butler, right) puts handcuffs on his ex-wife Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) because she has jumped bail by not showing up for a court hearing involving a large number of unpaid parking tickets. See the movie to find out how things turn out.

The Bounty Hunter: Aniston and Butler Square-Off in Battle of the Exes

Kam Williams

Milo (Gerard Butler) and Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) were separated after being married only a few years; they divorced primarily because Milo was pompous and immature. Unfortunately, he hasn’t changed much since then, and as a result, Milo was fired by the New York Police Department for the same sort of immature behavior that ended his marriage.

Now, he has become a bounty hunter, rounding up fugitives for Sid (Jeff Garlin), a bail bondsman who hates the idea of losing any of the money he’s posted as bail for his clients. Milo has no reason to believe that his ex-wife might be one of his boss’ clients; after all, she’s a successful investigative journalist who’s never been on the wrong side of the law.

However, she did get arrested for ignoring a pile of parking tickets, and then relied on Sid’s services to get her out of jail. However, she subsequently failed to show up in court, and Sid currently finds himself facing the prospect of losing the $50,000 he put up as collateral.

So, Milo gets the shock of his life when he opens his folder one Friday to see that his latest assignment is to track down Nicole by Monday morning. Of course, this proves easier said than done, since he still has feelings for her and would rather resolve her problems than have her incarcerated. To thicken the plot, it turns out that she’s very close to cracking the case of the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy (Adam Rose), the bartender at O’Doul’s, a local watering hole.

As part of her investigation, Nicole pretends to be Lakeesha, Jimmy’s girlfriend, in order to convince his suspicious landlady (Jayne Houdyshell) to let her into his apartment where Nicole hopes to find more clues about his sudden disappearance.

As it turns out he might have been a stool pigeon who double-crossed the mob. However, before Nicole has a chance to get to the bottom of the story, Milo shows up and places her in handcuffs.

What ensues is a comedic battle of the exes which also involves the mafia; and fails to do justice to either plot element. For example, it’s never clearly established why Nicole would even want to take Milo back; nor is the missing person mystery the least bit compelling. A romantic comedy that has no chemistry between the lead actors and also includes a crime caper with no tension, adds up to a boring combination that should be avoided. The film is a great time killer for anybody who needs help being bored.

Fair (1 star). Rated PG-13 for profanity, violence, and sexuality. Running time: 111 minutes. Distributor: Columbia Pictures.

For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.

Return to Top | Go to Music and Theater Reviews