Amazon Holiday

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Bounty Hunter


Q: What’s the movie about?

A: An ex-cop (Gerard Butler) who is now a bounty hunter is assigned to pick up and turn in his ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston).

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler, Jason Sudeikis, Jeff Garlin, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Peter Greene, Joel Garland, Dorian Missick, Cathy Moriarty, Adam Rose, Christine Baranski, Carol Kane, Adam LeFevre, Ritchie Coster

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: PhotobucketProceed with Caution. With the right execution this could have been a decent concept, but the two leads hate each other so much that it's hard to care for either of them.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not really. But you know what would've made this movie funny? Casting Brad Pitt as Jennifer Aniston's ex-husband. Now that would've been an interesting twist!

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: You know how Gerard Butler's character makes a big deal in the trailer about how he can tell the difference between when Jennifer Aniston's crying is real or fake? Well I couldn't. They both looked fake to me.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I'll tell you what it won't be up for: Best Costume Design. I'm sorry, but if your characters are only going to wear one outfit for the entire movie, I'd think you'd have time to come up with something a little more original and character defining than a black tank top with a black skirt and pumps. I could come up with that outfit since I was 15, without any of your formal training or your five figure salary.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Has anyone besides me noticed that Gerard Butler talks out of the side of his mouth when he does romantic comedies? I can't tell if it's because that's how he does his American accent, or if that's just his signal that he's about to say something that's meant to be taken as a sarcasm joke. What do you think?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: As soon as Andy Tennant's credit came up on the screen, I couldn't stop thinking, "Oh no! He's the guy who gave up Fool's Gold." And as I continued to indulge his generic directing style, I started to realize that this is a remake of Fool's Gold, only set it in a new location, and with two lead actors who are slightly less attractive, charming, and likeable, than Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: This is for all you screenwriters out there: what's missing from this script is the "Save the Cat" moment. For the rest of you, that is an expression which comes from the title of my all time favorite screenwriting book, "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder. Snyder explains, that to make a character likeable, there needs to be a moment, somewhere close to the beginning, where we see him or her do something selfless and kind, like save a cat from a tree, because once it's been established that this person is generally good on the inside, we, the audience, are much more forgiving of their flaws and mistakes. The characters in this film do a lot of mean things to each other, and without a "Save the Cat" moment for each of them, we quickly become as unforgiving of them as they are of each other.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Ke$ha introduces her new single during the credits, so prepare to hear that song on the radio whenever Lady Gaga isn't playing.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-bounty-hunter/50263/trailers

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3 comments:

Reel Whore said...

Thanks for the book recommendation.

A couple of friends saw this and said they never laughed once. Personally, the fact that Hollywood keeps trying to turn Gerard Butler into a romantic comedy star is laughable.

Monique said...

Let me know what you think of the book. What I love about it is it's simple. It doesn't try to over complicate things, like many of the supposed "gurus" do. Screenwriting structure isn't that complicated. What's hard is coming up with interesting, unpredictable twists. And that's what separates the men from the good from the average.

Reel Whore said...

Surprisingly, my local library has it. I'll have to swing by this afternoon and grab it.