Director's Chair: Andy Tennant
19 March 2010
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Andy Tennant is back on the big screen this week with his new movie The Bounty Hunter, which stars Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.
The romantic comedy is the filmmaker's first movie since Fool's Gold back in 2008, which reunited Kate Hudson with Matthew McConaughney.
Tennant studied theatre under John Houseman at the University of Southern California and first of all tried his hand at acting with roles in the likes of Grease.
But it wasn't long before he moved behind the camera and worked as a television script writer, penning Moving Target and Ferris Bueller.
Soon he began mixing the two and it was American sit-com Ferris Bueller that saw him make his TV directorial debut back in 1990.
And it was TV which provided him with his early success as he went onto direct multiple episodes of such shows as The Wonder Years, Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Sliders.
He made his film directorial debut in 1995 with It Takes Two, which starred Mary and Kate Olsen before going onto Fools Rush In.
The Matthew Perry and Selma Hayek movie was not met well by the critics and only just made back it's $20 million budget.
His biggest cinematic success to date came in 1997 when he helmed Ever After, which was inspired by the fairy tale Cinderella and starred Drew Barrymore.
It was met well by the critics and also did well at the domestic and global box office.
Since 2000 the filmmaker has worked sparingly, The Bounty Hunter is just his fourth movie in ten years.
First up in 2002 was another romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama starring Reese Witherspoon as
Melanie Carmichael, a Southern girl who leaves her past behind in order to find success as a fashion designer in New York City.
On the night of a hugely important show, her charming and romantic boyfriend, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), proposes to her.
Melanie flees for Alabama, hoping to take care of some unfinished business before Andrew and his mother, New York mayor Kate Hennings (Candice Bergan), discover the truth about her.
The truth is that Melanie, whose real last name is Smooter, is still married to her childhood sweetheart, Jake (Josh Lucas), who refuses to grant her a divorce. As Melanie reunites with her parents and old friends, she is forced to reevaluate her new-and-improved self.
While the movie was not met well by the critics it was a box office hit, becoming the biggest opening of September and grossed over $35 million in its first weekend.
However it was his next movie Hitch that remains his biggest success at the box office, that could have something to do with a certain Will Smith.
Will Smith stars as Alex Hitchens, an urban "date doctor" who helps the common man woo the woman of his dreams.
His latest project, Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), may be his most difficult. Brennaman, a junior accountant prone to clumsiness, has fallen head-over-heels for one of his clients, Allegra Cole (Amber Valleta), a well-known celebrity.
To complicate things further, Hitch's dating dogma is shaken when he meets and falls for a beautiful gossip columnist, Sara Melas (Eva Mendes), whose sharp wit easily pierces his cool façade.
Smith weaved his box office magic, becoming his fifth consecutive film to gross over $100 million in the U.S. alone.
With positive reviews from the critics the film went on to be a box office smash as it grossed over $366 million at the global box office.
And now Tenant is back with his latest pairing of Butler and Aniston in The Bounty Hunter.
Milo Boyd (Butler), a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter, gets his dream job when he is assigned to track down his bail-jumping ex-wife, reporter Nicole Hurly (Aniston).
He thinks all that's ahead is an easy payday, but when Nicole gives him the slip so she can chase a lead on a murder cover-up, Milo realises that nothing ever goes simply with him and Nicole.
The exes continually one-up each other - until they find themselves on the run for their lives.
They thought their promise to love, honour and obey was tough - staying alive is going to be a whole lot tougher.
And there are a couple of possible projects in the pipeline for the director including Chasing Harry Winston and Around The World In 80 Dates.
The Bounty hunter is out now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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