At the dawn of the development of the film industry, bounty hunters appeared exclusively in Westerns and were portrayed as slightly cynical loners, but invariably surrounded by a halo, as in the 1954 Andre De Taut movie. In the future, an unconventional occupation was reflected in science fiction films. For example, in the Star Wars universe, in the Black Hole and Riddick Chronicles, the main characters are often haunted by notorious hunters.
Without losing relevance
In many films, the narrative is twisted around the heroes involved in the search and capture of criminals for a fee ("Django Unchained", "Trump Aces" and the Russian series "Karpov").
The director Andy Tennant (“Stylish little thing”, “Removal rules: Hitch's method”,) did not ignore the theme that is not losing its relevance. In his 2010 work, a couple of heroes divorced but not cooled to each other, performed by Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, show what the process of persecution could turn into. Reviews for the film "Bounty Hunter" are polar, critics are very categorical in their assessments. The painting was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award in four categories. Its IMDb rating is 5.50.
Short storyline
Ex-policeman Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) makes a living by stalking and capturing criminal elements. But because of his addiction to gambling, money is sorely lacking. Position saves a new order. He needs to deliver to the police station his former wife Nicole Hurley (Jennifer Aniston) - a participant in an accident who did not appear at the appointed time in court. Milo takes up the matter enthusiastically, not knowing what this venture will turn into.
The duel between the former spouses is not for life, but for death. None intend to retreat. The critics' comments on “The Bounty Hunter” refer to the merits of the project not only humor in the narrative, but also the presence of a serious detective line, which gives special acuteness to the dismantling of the main characters. In pursuit of his ex-wife, Milo unwittingly gets pulled into her dangerous journalistic investigation into law enforcement corruption. The couple in full enjoys the drive that once united them in the cell of society. In general, the plot of "Bounty Hunter" reviews are praised.
Disadvantages of comedy
Among the shortcomings of the picture “Bounty Hunter”, the audience’s reviews call the deliberately prolonged timing, from which 20 minutes can be removed painlessly. The tape begins deceptively smartly. A smoking, rare car turns onto the side of the road, the driver who leaves (Gerard Butler) opens the trunk, from where a spectacular lady (Jennifer Aniston) breaks out, immediately rushing to run into the forest.
The chase is immediately interrupted by a freeze-frame with drawn arrows telling the watcher who is who: the wife is an escaped violator of administrative law, the ex-husband is a “bounty hunter” who wants to pass the fugitive to justice. The director Andy Tennant and the playwright scriptwriter Sarah Thorpe will not back down a centimeter from this claimed scheme, the characters of the characters do not deepen, why their marriage did not break up, etc.
Combat atmosphere
Reviewers in reviews of "Bounty Hunter" even call casting called clichéd. Butler, playing the hero of the action movie, immediately takes on a romantic role, and Aniston, as if taking revenge on his real former handsome husband for “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Often authors define the genre of a picture as a romantic-military comedy. And they are right, since there is no less dynamic action in the cinema than romantic moments.
Veteran of the action genre Gerard Butler performed all the tricks in the picture independently, without resorting to the help of stuntmen. Surprisingly, Jennifer Aniston also did without the services of understudies. Therefore, the realism of falls, car crashes and shock can not but rejoice. Already because of the action component, many viewers left positive reviews. The Bounty Hunter, in their opinion, is a fun and action movie.
Scandinavian thriller
The Norwegian movie "Headhunters" many movie experts position themselves as a crime thriller, not without an impressive share of black humor. The director Morten Tildum made a picture based on the novel by Yu. Nesbe “Bounty Hunters”. The project received flattering reviews. Its IMDb rating is 7.60. Key roles in the film were played by A. Henny and N. Coster-Waldau.
At the center of the story is Norway's best bounty hunter, Roger Brown, leading a double life. The criminal side of his activity specializes in the theft of works of art. Once his wife Diana introduces him businessman Klas Greve, a man owns an invaluable exhibit. Brown considers acquaintance a good chance to take possession of the picture, but frankly underestimates the opponent. The consequences of dating are completely unpredictable.
Criticism
The thriller is highly appreciated by filmmakers for being as close as possible to a literary source written by Nesba. For Bounty Hunters, the reviews were rated 7.6 out of 10 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
One of the leading journalists of The Miami Herald in his article compared the work of Morten Tildum with the best projects of the Coen brothers and Sam Raimi. Among the awards the film received were the Amanda Award (Public Choice), nominations for prestigious awards of the European Film Academy, BAFTA, Saturn and Empire. Hollywood bought the right to make a remake. The Scandinavian project can be safely recommended for viewing to fans of the genre.
The hard days of domestic headhunters
Domestic filmmakers and television people are not far behind foreign colleagues. In 2014, the first season of the series “Bounty Hunters” was aired, in which Philip Yankovsky and Elizaveta Boyarskaya played the main roles. Valery Todorovsky had a hand in creating the script for the project, whose “Thaw” won the hearts of film critics and the domestic audience, young and old.
The narrative of the series is twisted around the personalities of the central characters of Timur (F. Yankovsky) and Rita (E. Boyarskaya). Both heroes are bounty hunters, but Timur specializes in catching dangerous intruders, and Rita specializes in the search for gifted specialists.
Once their paths intersect - they simultaneously begin to deal with the work of a brilliant Russian chemist (Konstantin Shelestun). The scientist invented a cure for cancer, which the drug lords, after refinement, want to use as a new drug. Young people have to make a difficult moral choice, but as a result they will be on one side of the barricades.
The indisputable advantages of the picture include the original idea and a wonderful acting ensemble. Among the shortcomings are sagging, lack of narrative dynamics in individual episodes and unfinished, like forgotten secondary storylines.
"Wild Investigator"
In 2015, the series “The Bounty Hunter” was added to domestic television projects. Reviews the idea of ​​a creative tandem of directors I. Moskvitin and S. Malyugov has restrained. The roles of key characters in the television movie were performed by Peter Kislov ("Crazy", "Network", "Youth"), Vera Strokova ("Isaev", "Shapito-show"), Victoria Maslova ("Lover", "Black Mark") and Alexey Vedernikov ("Battalion", "Shuler").
The main character of the television movie is private detective Alexander Rumyantsev, who catches criminals for a fee in St. Petersburg. The detective does not correspond to the stereotype of a tough invulnerable guy, but optimism and a bit of adventurism cannot be taken away from him. The whole criminal world of the northern capital of Russia grinds a tooth on a hero.
Police are forced to cooperate with a private investigator, as the “wild investigator” invariably raises the statistics of uncovered crimes. Alexander is unable to forget his ex-wife Marina, in this, according to the authors of the reviews, “Bounty Hunter” is similar to the Hollywood comedy project. But Rumyantsev’s dangerous orders and the presence of his partner, the hunter’s assistant Tasi, who Alexander saved by tearing the bloodthirsty maniac in the first episode of the project, interfere with ex-spouses who have not cooled to each other.