The Gerard Butler Double Feature Weekend

This weekend was incredibly busy, going to and fro to different family events to entertain my visiting sister.  Gerard Butler is one of our favorite actors so it was a no-brainer that these movies were on our radar. We made it to two movies, both with Gerard Butler as one of the key cast members: Bounty Hunter at Alamo Drafthouse was our "twin date," and How to Train Your Dragon was something we watched with our mom.

Bounty Hunter follows a reporter chasing a story who fails to appear at her court date.  Her ex-husband, a bounty hunter, takes the job of bringing her back to jail for skipping bail. 

I was hoping that this movie would be the next Mr. and Mrs. Smith - no pun or social commentary intended.  It wasn't.  I think it could have been with more work on the script or better storyboards or photography.  It ended up just being a cute movie instead of a great movie.  I had a blast watching this with my sister, but overall it's forgettable.  However I highly recommend Breckenridge's Agave Wheat seasonal- a very refreshing hefeweisen.

Again, I was put off by Gerard Butler's "I haven't shaved in two weeks" look.  Perhaps that was applicable to this particular character, but to me it just looks messy and lazy.  It still does the trick for my sister, so there's still at least some demand for it somewhere.

How to Train Your Dragon follows Hiccup, a teenage viking that is the laughingstock of his town because he is too puny to fight dragons, the town's main occupation.  He uses his ingenuity with mechanics to catch the dreaded nightfury and prove himself to the clan in a way he never intended.

Dreamworks did a great job with this movie.  Everything came together well: characters were unique individuals, the animation really established the culture and environment, and the story was really moving.  (No, I didn't cry.)  I'm definitely going to buy this when it comes out.

The cast on this were all relatively up-and-coming younger actors as the viking teenagers- America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, and Jay Baruchel. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they will do next.  Gerard Butler does a great job as the town chief and Hiccup's father.

We saw this movie at Santikos Silverado.  I was reminded again why I prefer the Drafthouse, even besides the food and beverage service.  Perhaps the mistake was ours by seeing a PG movie on a Sunday afternoon.  There were kids screaming in the theater every thirty minutes or so.  It completely ruined a poignant scene.  The 18-and-up-all-shows rule at Drafthouse has sheltered me for a long while.

If you're going to see a Gerard Butler move, go see How to Train Your Dragon, or rent Timeline or 300. I imagine Bounty Hunter will go down on the list of movies that no one will remember.