"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) ReviewWhen I first saw the preview trailers for both ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” and ”COP OUT” five years ago, I had naturally assumed I would prefer the action/romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my opinions of the two movie proved to be reversed. I am not claiming that ”COP OUT” was an exceptional action/comedy film. Trust me, it was not. But I consider it a piece of cinematic artistry in compare to the incoherent ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”.To my knowledge, ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” told the story of a New York journalist named Nicole Hurley, who jumped bailed and ignored a court summons over an altercation with a cop in order to pursue a promising story about a suicide that smelled suspiciously like a murder. Hot on the journalist’s trail is her ex-husband, a former cop-turned-bounty hunter named Milo Boyd. He had been given the assignment to find her and turn her over to the police. Once Milo found Nicole, the two were forced to contend with another former cop, who also happened to be a killer; and a pair of hired thugs who worked for a bookie to whom Milo owned money.Judging from the plot’s outline, one might assume that it was not that complicated. I wish I could say that the movie was not complicated. After all, there were aspects of it that I enjoyed. For instance, I enjoyed the bed-and-breakfast scene where Nicole and Milo a moonlight dinner on the hotel’s terrace. Not only did it featured first-rate acting by Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, but also allowed their characters to reflect upon their error in getting a divorce. I also enjoyed the rather humorous scene in which the pair tracked down a golf caddy, who could provide information on the killer, to a country club. And Nicole and Milo’s encounter with the killer on the road back to New York City, was filled with both humor and good action. I must almost admit that director Andy Tennant did a solid job in pacing the film, despite the unnecessary plotlines in the script. One last thing . . . I enjoyed Oliver Bokelberg’s crisp and colorful photography of Manhattan, Atlantic City and other parts of New Jersey and New York State.As for the plot . . . what in the hell happened? What led screenwriter Sarah Thorp to take a straightforward plot and screw it up? What problem did I have with the story’s plot? Its execution made no sense whatsoever. I had no problems with the idea of a bounty hunter searching his bail jumping ex-wife. However, I had a problem with how Thorp handled the entire story. In the movie, it took Milo a few hours to track down Nicole from her Manhattan apartment, to her singer/mother at an Atlantic City hotel and finally to a racetrack. But once Milo caught up with Nicole, it took them two days to return to Manhattan. Why? Because Thorp had sidetracked the couple with some unnecessary adventures.One, Nicole and Milo stopped at an Atlantic City casino-hotel to gamble at the craps table. Milo had made a deal with Nicole that if she served as his good luck charmed and enabled him to win at least $5,000 (the money he was receiving for her capture), he would let her go. He ended up winning $8,000, she walked away, he eventually lost the money with more gambling and they ended up spending the night together at the casino-hotel. Their second day on the road included a close encounter with the killer (unmemorably portrayed by Peter Greene), a side trip to a country club to interrogate the golf caddy and an unnecessary stop at the very bed-and-breakfast where they had spent their honeymoon. Meanwhile, the movie also focused upon a pair of hired thugs for a female bookie portrayed by Oscar nominee Cathy Moriarty, to whom Milo owned money due to his gambling habit. A good deal of mistaken identity ensued when the thugs picked up Nicole’s newspaper colleague, whom one of them had mistaken for Milo. Finally, the movie ended with a showdown with the killer and Milo’s ex-partner. The entire sequence was nothing more than a vague, yet convoluted mess that left me feeling dissatisfied.Some critics have complained about a lack of screen chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. I would have to disagree with that opinion . . . somewhat. I must admit that the two stars had failed to produce any sparks in their first scene together. Fortunately, Aniston and Butler managed to create some kind of chemistry, as the movie progressed. But they did not have the kind of chemistry that Butler had with Katherine Heigel in ”THE UGLY TRUTH” or Aniston had with Vince Vaughn in ”THE BREAK UP”. In fact, Butler’s role seemed like a remake of his Mike Chadway character in ”THE UGLY TRUTH”. Whereas his Chadway character had managed to perfectly contrast with Heigel’s prissy character in the 2009 comedy, his Milo Boyd character failed to do the same with Aniston’s more sardonic and extroverted personality in ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. But the pair still managed to create some chemistry.Only a handful of the supporting cast actually impressed me. Dorian Missick did an excellent job of portraying the ambiguity of Detective Bobby Singer, the police detective who was Milo’s ex-partner, the couple’s close friend and of whom they suspected of being corrupt. Christine Baranski was charming and funny as Nicole’s mother, a nightclub singer at an Atlantic City casino. Siobhan Fallon was equally funny as the wife of the bail bondsman that Milo works for. Christian Borle gave a hilarious performance as the country club golf caddy who reluctantly gave Milo and Nicole the information they needed on the killer. I would have included Jason Sudeikis’ hilarious portrayal of Nicole’s wacky colleague and former one-night stand, Stewart. But once he got caught up in the useless bookie storyline, he became a nuisance and I eventually lost interest in him.In the end, I do not know if I could really recommend ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. A forgettable villain and numerous subplots that made the movie’s story convoluted prevented it from going anywhere. Pity. The movie could have been a first-rate comedy in the vein of 1988’s ”MIDNIGHT RUN”. Instead, it turned out to be a second-rate movie with too many flaws.
"THE CONTROVERSY OF PRUE HALLIWELL'S DEATH"Many fans of the old "CHARMED" series had believed Phoebe Halliwell was to blame for the death of her oldest sister Prue Halliwell in the Season Three episode, (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose". It almost seemed as if many wanted to use her as some kind of scapegoat. I am sorry, but I had found this idea extremely difficult to accept. I still do. I wonder if any "CHARMED" fan had ever considered that Prue bore most of the responsibility for her own death? I wonder if many fans had forgotten how the whole mess in "All Hell Breaks Loose" had started in the first place?It had all started because Prue had forgotten the very lesson the sisters had learned in the Season One episode, (1.16) "Which Prue Is it, Anyway?" - the best offense is defense. The episode "All Hell Breaks Loose" began with the sisters being attacked by a demonic assassin, Shax, while protecting a Dr. Griffiths from him. Although Shax managed to seriously wound both Prue and middle sister Piper Halliwell, Phoebe used a spell that vanquished Shax . . . temporarily. Their whitelighter and Piper Halliwell's husband, Leo Wyatt, healed his wife and Prue in time.Unfortunately, the sisters had expressed uncertainty that Phoebe vanquished Shax. Even worse, Prue forgot the lesson of "Which Prue Is It, Anyway?" and insisted that she and Piper leave the manor to track down Shax. The sisters could have remained at the manor and prepared themselves for another attack by Shax. Instead, Prue dragged Piper out of the manor. When they encountered Shax again and vanquished him – well, Piper vanquished him with her second power - a television news crew videotaped their action. This turned out to be the very incident that set-in motion the events leading to Prue's death. Not Phoebe's decision to find and save her half-demonic love, Cole Turner aka Belthazor.Following Prue and Piper's exposure, Phoebe had announced her intentions to rescue Cole from the Source's Realm. Prue and Piper's protests against the idea seemed to be more about her getting emotionally involved with Cole instead of any demands that she hangs around in case Shax was not dead. In fact, Piper seemed certain she had killed Shax. She seemed more concerned with Phoebe's feelings for Cole and that he might exploit them. Before the sisters could discuss Phoebe and Cole even further, Piper's killing of Shax had appeared on television. The Halliwells' friend in the San Francisco Police Department, Inspector Darryl Morris, had been ordered by his captain to question the sisters about Shax's "death". Although Prue believed that they had done the right thing by leaving the house to go after Shax, the two sisters finally realized they had made a mistake.Prue and Piper went to Dr. Griffiths at the hospital to make certain that Shax had not resurrected and went after him . . . in case they had not vanquished him. Sure enough, Shax appeared outside of the hospital. And Prue and Piper "vanquished" him . . . in front of television cameras . . . again. Leo informed them that the Elders wanted them to contact the demon Tempus to set back time and erase the sisters' exposure by the media. Prue ordered Leo to contact Cole in the Source's Realm, so he could make a deal with the Source and Tempus. Following Leo's departure, news reporters, the police and a group of protesters had gathered outside of the Halliwells' manor. A Wiccan fanatic named Alice managed to get inside and declare her desire to join "their coven", but Prue threw her out. Not long afterward, Alice shot Piper. Prue tried to get the latter to a hospital, but the media and the police blocked her way, forcing her to use her telekinesis against them. Unfortunately, Dr. Griffiths was unable to save Piper at the hospital. A SWAT team had gathered outside the hospital to take down Prue. During all of this, Leo, Phoebe and Cole managed to make a deal with the Source, who ordered the time manipulating demon, Tempus, to reset time. Just as the SWAT team was about to kill Prue, Tempus reset the time to the Halliwells' first encounter with Shax. But with Phoebe trapped in the Source's Realm, the demonic assassin managed to kill both Dr. Griffith and Prue, and seriously wound Piper. Which is how Season Three ended.Before Alice "the Crazy Wiccan Wannabe" had shot Piper in the first timeline, both she and Prue had realized they had made one mistake that led to their exposure. But the sisters - Phoebe included - and Leo's own complacency had led to the following:• The Halliwells' erroneous belief that they had succeeded in killing Shax
• Exposure by the media
• Phoebe's decision to go after Cole after Piper had mistakenly expressed the belief that Shax had been "vanquished"
• Being exposed for the second time by the media
• Piper getting shot
• The deal with the Source and Tempus, which led to Phoebe being trapped in the Source's Realm
• Time being reset, which led to a second attack by Shax
• Dr. Griffith and Prue's deaths.I will not claim that Prue was solely responsible for her death. The other major characters also managed to add their two cents to the situation. The Source's determination to destroy the Charmed Ones and Dr. Griffiths led him to assign Shax to commit the deed. Shax eventually did kill both Prue and Dr. Griffiths. The media provided nothing but trouble for the Charmed Ones, after they had exposed the two older sisters. Phoebe's determination to find Cole at all costs, led her to be missing at a time when her presence could have saved Prue’s life. Their whitelighter and Piper's husband, Leo, did not help with his insistence that Piper had succeeded in killing Shax, when the media first caught her and Prue on tape. Cole's decision to cover his tracks with the Source and the Brotherhood of the Thorn at the end of (3.19) "The Demon Who Came in From the Cold" led to his eventual capture by his fellow demons and a brief estrangement from Phoebe. Piper certainly did not help matters. Granted, she had initially opposed both Phoebe's trip to the Source’s Realm, but also Prue’s decision to leave the manor to track down Shax. But instead of maintaining her opposition, Piper allowed herself to become a pushover by caving into her sisters' wishes and opinions.However, in my opinion, Prue Halliwell bored most of the blame for her death. The episode, (3.18) "Sin Francisco" made it clear that one of her biggest flaws happened to be her pride. Her inability to overcome that pride forced Leo to rescue her from the demon featured in that episode. And in "All Hell Breaks Loose", Prue’s pride that led her to believe that no problem would arise in her and Piper leaving the manor – the one place that the Charmed Ones were at their strongest – to hunt down Shax. Unfortunately for Prue, the end of the episode proved her wrong.
