Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Jennifer Aniston stars as Nicole Hurley, a journalist who thinks she’s on the verge of a major story. She was reading the police report about a seemingly run-of-the-mill suicide when someone pointed out the following oddity: the victim seemed to go over the building head first, but most suicides jump feet first. If the man landed head first, chances are he was thrown. Nicole then decides to contact Jimmy (played by Adam Rose), an informant that works as a bartender at the local cop watering hole. Jimmy does some checking and discovers that there might be evidence missing from the evidence locker. He calls Nicole to set up a meeting to convey the information.
The problem for Nicole is that she is supposed to be in court to face charges of “assaulting an officer.” She can’t bear to see a big story slip away, though, so she ditches court and goes to meet Jimmy. She arrives at the Dunkin’ Donuts just in time to witness a huge SUV speeding out of the lot, while Jimmy’s car, with a smashed driver’s side window, sits empty in a parking space. Now Nicole is sure the story will be big and excitedly prepares to pursue whatever leads she can find.
Unfortunately for her, since she missed her hearing, she is now considered as skipping out on bail and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Turns out that Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler), Nicole’s ex-husband, is the bounty hunter assigned to bring her back in. Milo relishes the idea of being able to earn $5,000 while simultaneously sending Nicole to jail, and immediately begins his pursuit. It doesn’t take long before he catches up to her at an Atlantic City horse racing track.
From there, the film shows how Milo and Nicole constantly bicker on their way back to New York. She begs him to let her finish her story first, he’s predictably a jerk, they rehash the problems from their marriage, etc. etc. — all while finally managing to solve the case of the non-suicide and exposing the police corruption involved. Oh, and of course they get back together at the end. What? You don’t really consider that to be a spoiler, do you?!
Liked
- Jennifer Aniston was pretty good in this. I usually like her, but have bagged on her last few films. This film as a whole wasn’t anything special, but I thought she did well with the material she had to work with. In fact, she was the only reason I kept watching this one to the end. And at the risk of sounding incredibly shallow, I think Aniston looks great for her age (nearly 42). I watched this in high-def and didn’t notice any lines or blemishes on her face. I wish I could get whatever acne lotion or wrinkle cream she uses!
Disliked:
- Gerard Butler did more to ruin this film for me than the stupid plot did. Whose choice was it to make him such a disgusting pig in this role? I had zero sympathy for him and found him totally unlikable. Jennifer Aniston was supposed to be attracted to this scuzz bucket? Yeah, right. Butler is a good-looking man — when he’s allowed to be. Why couldn’t they have shaved him, bathed him, and made him somewhat presentable? A movie like this is all about the chemistry between the two leads. Unfortunately, Butler and Aniston had none at all.
- There were a few too many boring scenes that led nowhere. This film felt like it was 15-20 minutes too long, so some smart editing might have made a big difference.
Rating:
I was worried about watching The Bounty Hunter because of all the bad reviews it received upon its initial release. Unfortunately, most of those reviews were spot-on. I did like Jennifer Aniston in this, but practically nothing else worked for me. I give the film 2 stars out of 5.
Breaking Bad has been a favorite of critics ever since it first hit the airwaves. The hype surrounding the show was so persistent that I just had to check things out for myself. I watched two episodes and thought it was OK, but never bothered making it a part of my regular schedule. That might have been because I had to find online streams of the show, which were not always top quality, if you know what I mean.
Plot summary (from Columbia Pictures): Every age has its visionaries who leave, in the wake of their genius, a changed world – but rarely without a battle over exactly what happened and who was there at the moment of creation. The Social Network explores the moment at which Facebook was invented — through the warring perspectives of the super-smart young men who each claimed to be there at its inception. The film moves from the halls of Harvard to the cubicles of Palo Alto to capture the heady early days of a culture-changing phenomenon in the making — and the way it both pulled a group of young revolutionaries together and then split them apart. 
Cougar Town 2×09 — “When the Time Comes”: This was a nice little Thanksgiving episode. I enjoyed the storyline about Andy’s eternal optimism, and liked how Ellie and Laurie conspired to take him down (only to fail, of course). I also liked seeing Ellie, Laurie, and Andy eating lunch together without Jules or Bobby being part of the group. Ellie and Laurie want to pretend that they hate each other so much, but there’s an actual friendship there.
Modern Family 2×09 — “Mother Tucker”: This was an OK episode. I find that I like this show more when it’s just the family members interacting with each other than when outsiders play prominent roles. I have never been a fan of Dylan (I just can’t stand the way the actor looks), so I wasn’t thrilled to have so much of him in this ep. And I think Phil’s attraction to him (I don’t even know what other word to use) is creepy, not funny. The only amusing part of that storyline was Phil’s girl sweatshirt; otherwise, it was pretty boring.
I recently purchased the complete Ally McBeal DVD box set when it was on sale for $99, and am now working my way through some episodes whenever I get a chance. I want to see the series in order again, though I’m sure I’ll start skipping a few when things get bad in Season 4 and (especially) Season 5.
I don’t watch very many movies over and over again from beginning to end, but The Blind Side is one of my few exceptions. This is a terrific film that features an absolutely fantastic performance from Sandra Bullock, making it a prime candidate for repeat viewings. Throw in the fact that the film is based on a true story and revolves around football, and I’m definitely hooked — which is why I want to buy 
Burn Notice 4×14 — “Hot Property”: Chalk this one up as another so-so episode for me. I’m not sure if the second half of the fourth season has been truly boring thus far or if I’m just getting tired of the show in general, but I haven’t felt these last two eps at all. In fact, I barely even watched this one, as I was playing around on my iPad while the “action”, such as it was, unfolded on the screen. So I don’t even really have any comments about this ep. Seriously, I think the only scene I actually paid attention to was the final one where Maddie forced Michael and Jesse to shake hands. Did anything noteworthy happen during the other 41 minutes??
Criminal Minds 6×09 — “Into the Woods”: What an utterly disturbing episode. Well, most of them are, but this one featuring a serial child molester/killer was particularly dark. The whole notion of some creepy dude kidnapping little boys in order to “hibernate” with them all winter made my skin crawl, and then to show the man come and take the boy away only to subsequently bring him back after an obvious sexual encounter (thank GOD the director didn’t have the kid limp back to the cell) just made it 10x worse. And things only went downhill from there, with the whole trading the kid for drugs scene and the fact that the killer wasn’t even captured. Yikes.