For romance, comedy, hunt elsewhere than 'Bounty Hunter'

Chemistry between two people is difficult to define.

One thing is sure, though - Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler don't have it.

Add them to a script as grating as "The Bounty Hunter" and the result is neither comedic nor romantic.

He's sleazy but buff. She's bland and needs a haircut (or at least some kind of stylist to get that mane out of her face). Together, they bicker for 110 minutes and try to sell it as a movie. There are plenty of married people who get this for free at home. (We aren't getting personal here. You know who you are.)

Butler's screen success seems to come in inverse proportion to the amount of clothing he wears. His one big hit is "300," in which he wore a leather jockstrap. The film took in more than $200 million. Here, in one scene, he wears just a towel. The lady (one assumes she was a lady) sitting behind me, loudly commented: "At last, this is getting interesting."

Butler, usually billed as a Scottish hunk, specializes in unshaven, knock-'em-around kinds of guys. He needs a sparring partner. Aniston, who is limited to the same skimpy black dress for the entire movie, is mostly shocked at his behavior. The best she can manage is a bland kind of feistiness.

He locks her in the trunk of his car. He chains her to a bed. He throws her toothbrush in the toilet. Anyone can see it's true love.

To be fair, there is some motivation. They are a divorced couple. It was not a quiet parting. He is an ex-cop who now works as a low-rent bounty hunter. She is an investigative reporter for the New York Daily News who is arrested for assaulting a police officer but doesn't show up for court because she's onto a big lead. (Hey, wouldn't any good reporter do the same? Who's going to turn down a story for a court appearance?)

He's assigned to bring her in.

They argue. They fight. She runs about in high heels. She runs about barefoot. Then they do it all over again. After 45 minutes of this, you get the idea that you're stuck in movie hell.

Cathy Moriarty, an Oscar nominee long ago for "Raging Bull," has a bit as a tough-woman gangster leader. There's not enough for her to make anything of the role. Christine Baranski is scary as Aniston's mother, apparently dressed up for Halloween.

Andy Tennant, who directed, has maintained his standards. He directed the terrible romantic comedies "Fool's Gold," "Fools Rush In" and "Sweet Home Alabama."

Go over and stare at a blank wall, if you have one available. It's more likely to make you laugh than this movie is.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com