It's a gender twist on "Midnight Run" - mutual antagonists cuffed together, dodging various adversaries. Butler's character owes money to the mob, and stays one step ahead of a loan-shark's leg-breakers. His ex has her own set of problems - she's a tabloid journalist working on a police corruption story and is being stalked by a bad cop.
They weave their way from Atlantic City to New York, bickering all the while, and we endure some ponderous detours - the bounty hunter has a gambling problem, leading to a pointless interlude at the Borgata. She, meanwhile, has a romantic stalker ("SNL's" Jason Sudeikis) who pops up to provide comic relief. Relief from what? Isn't this meant to be funny in the first place?
"Bounty Hunter" appears to being trying to summon some screwball energy (there are bits for Jeff Garlin, Cathy Moriarty), but it plays like a jumble of bad ideas, poorly executed, leaving the stars stranded on screen with nothing to do but whine.
The movie does not even offer glamour - Aniston looks like she's had some sort accident with a vat of Sudden Tan, and jokes about Butler wearing tacky tourist garb fall flat, because it's no different from his regular wardrobe.
I didn't think I'd see a romantic comedy this year as deadly as "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," but "Bounty Hunter" proved me wrong.
