REVIEW: THE BOUNTY HUNTER

ABOVE: Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler

ANDY'S rating 2/5

With rumours of an off-set romance, film fans will be keeping a close eye on the chemistry between screen singletons Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.

But to paraphrase the great Cilla Black, I wouldn’t buy a new hat just yet.

In their first romantic comedy together, the sexual energy between the ­40-somethings crackles like two-day-old Rice Krispies.

Perhaps it isn’t entirely their fault – fingers must be pointed at the script, which rattles through every rom-com cliché from the past 80 years.

Butler is a maverick ex-cop turned bounty hunter, with Jen his feisty reporter ex-wife who he has to bring in when she skips bail to chase a scoop.

As if that wasn’t amusing enough, they are being chased by a group of hapless loan sharks, a one-dimensional mobster and an obsessed weirdo from Jen’s office.

It’s the sort of nonsense that could be spun into gold by the likes of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. But with even a single line of witty banter clearly beyond the writers, the result is more often balls than screwball.

Still, Jen’s fans will go home smiling as she summons up just enough of Rachel from Friends’ kooky charm.

Butler meanwhile ignores his wandering accent while beating up baddies and flashing his six-pack.

Only once does the film threaten to surprise – when the couple stop off at the roadside hotel where they spent their honeymoon.

The joint is so sinister – a chintzy “love hotel” run by a creepy old couple – I thought things were about to take a turn towards the macabre.

Sadly, after a cutesy bedroom scene, the film clunked back on its relentless path towards a cockle- warming conclusion.

Don’t expect Hollywood’s latest golden couple to end up the same way.

In cinemas from Wednesday.

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