Wednesday, August 29, 2018

THE BOUNTY HUNTER (1989) ** ½


The Exterminator himself, Robert Ginty co-wrote, directed, and stars as the title character.  He moseys into a small town looking for a bounty and winds up butting heads with the sheriff (Bo Hopkins).  Naturally, the sheriff runs the town with an iron fist and is trying to push the Native American population out in order to get a big oil company to set up camp there.  Little does he know Ginty has an ulterior motive for being there:  Getting revenge for his fallen Nam vet Native American buddy.  I don’t think I’m spoiling anything when I tell you Hopkins was the man responsible for his death.  

Is The Bounty Hunter a good movie?  Not exactly.  It did however, give Robert Ginty a chance to direct and write and star in his own vehicle.  I mean no one was beating down his door for an Exterminator 3, so he might as well hone his chops behind the scenes.  (Although this was released in some countries as Exterminator 3, but never mind.)

There are no surprises here whatsoever, but it is fun seeing Ginty matching wits with Hopkins.  Since they are two of my all-time favorite B movie vets, I got a moderate amount of amusement from it.  Ginty commands the screen with his marble-mouthed charisma and sleepy-eyed screen presence.  I know this is Hopkins’ umpteenth turn as a seemingly simpleminded but sinister sheriff.  However, he finds new ways to keep his familiar-seeming character feel fresh.  (He has a good monologue about his family losing their home in the Depression, as well as a memorable bit where he sings “Camp Town Races” while beating up a suspect.)

The Bounty Hunter is decent enough for the most part.  Sure, it runs out of steam towards the end, but it’s watchable more often than not.  Since I’m a fan of both leads, I probably gave it an extra Half Star than necessary.  Your mileage may vary.

AKA:  Exterminator 3.

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