Bounty Hunter

The Bounty HunterIt impressed me. Okay, when the car rolled and not a single flame spouted anywhere I thought I was in love.

I'm NOT a Jennifer Aniston fan, but when she came out in that ultra-thin look, with the heels (well, except the wedges. I hate wedges) and the self-conscious business-woman/hardass thing going, I totally believed it. I watched her and I thought, "I know someone like that." I don't say that in romantic comedies very often. Ever, really. Movie writers seem to think that hardass business women have that soft underbelly. They even tried to say so in some dialogue in Bounty Hunter, but the audience isn't fooled for a second. She's a hardass, he's a hardass, and that's what works. Under all that emotional constipation, they seem to portray two people who just do what they do. Unusually realistic.

I saw the seedier, the more realistic side of New Jersey, and I felt something solid under everything, but there were still layers of fatty romance tissue, and I really don't think Gerard Butler should have an American accent. His mouth doesn't form the words naturally, and I think he could give a much stronger performance if so much of it weren't based on that low-level skill.

I guess accents and dialects aren't really a low-level skill, but they're not nearly as essential to character; I mean, they seem frivolous compared to deeper, psychological acting. I have heard theories about how speech affects brain patterns, so maybe an accent will change how a character behaves, but it doesn't seem to make a difference to me.

Anyway, if you can see through the fluff and survive the nasty scenes in the strip-club, this movie has some merit.

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