Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) is an ex-cop, a bounty hunter with a gambling debt. Nicole Hurley (Jennifer Aniston) is an ace reporter who smells a police coverup in a recent suicide. Milo and Nicole were married once, but now they seem happy apart. When Nicole ditches a court appearance to follow a hot lead, the perturbed judge puts out a warrant for her arrest. And guess who gets to bring her in?

Sounds a little like the makings of an Elmore Leonard novel. But alas, “Bounty Hunter” is more of a Hollywood quick-flick: A nicelooking couple with fair-tomiddlin’ chemistry and a moderately comedic script that won’t earn any Oscars but might keep the masses happily opiated for a couple of hours.

Remember “The Proposal”? Well, it’s not as good as that. Remember “All About Steve”? Well, it’s a lot better than that.

“Bounty Hunter” has a fair share of laughs and even a few cute moments. I guess its biggest problem is that it wants to be a romantic comedy and a lightweight action thriller, and it keeps tripping over itself attempting to accomplish both. Nicole’s after a story and Milo’s after her and all sorts of people are after them, so there’s really limited time for the ex-couple to stop hating each other and play nice.

You see, the rules of Hollywood implicitly state that a divorced couple must suffer through a first-act barrage of unflattering banter and then miraculously see the foolish past as indeed foolish, must realize the latent love bubbling to the surface. That’s how happily-ever-after is made.

Milo and Nicole do banter and they do make nice (even though people eventually begin shooting at them). And they are cute together. There’s even a marquee poster of Aniston in a tight black dress (oh-so-carefully ripped along one side) handcuffed to . . . well, does it matter?

One could say “Bounty Hunter” has a little something for everyone. Not quite enough, I suspect, for most of us—but maybe just enough to get by.

I probably shouldn’t like this one, but I can’t help myself. Not that anyone’s going to mistake

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” as anything close to great cinema, but it is certainly goofily lighthearted. It’s the kind of wimpy movie that—and bear with me here— exemplifies the wimpy kid it so accurately attempts to portray. Hence its sum is (somehow) greater than its parts.

If that’s confusing, take heart. I don’t think this one is built for anything more profound than a couple cheap cracks at juvenile angst. However, prepubescent males will love it, will feel understood (at last!) and will thrive on its humor. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” strives for nothing more than a gross-out, pouty comedy filled with all those bodily humor jokes that consume the genre (and gobbles up allowance money).

The frequent animated line drawings in the style of Jeff Kinney’s “cartoon novels” are the movie’s best gimmick. Frankly, I could have watched this one as pure animation—I think Kinney’s minimalist approach might have made for an instant cult classic

But back in the live-action world, we follow 11-year-old Greg Heffley’s (Zachary Gordon) tragic exploits in middle school. Greg wants to be popular, but he’s got no idea how to become popular. Certainly, fondling moldy cheese won’t get you to the top, but it seems many 11-year-olds don’t realize that . . . and the exploits of our perceived preteen “losers” often make for laughably traumatic experiences.

Am I ashamed at myself for laughing? Absolutely. But somehow Greg and his nerdy friend Rowley (Robert Capron) continually emerge on just this side of pathetically lovable.

And, parents, this is probably how we really do appear in our children’s eyes. Even more so when we cajole them—excuse me, expose them—to events such as those abominable mother-son dances that, for some insane reason, still exist in the 21st century.

I do wish Greg wasn’t so ut terly wimpy (and some may find his endless bickering and complaints annoying). As a protagonist, one yearns for a modicum of restraint.

But this is a “diary” film, after all—should have been a “journal ” film, but there goes Mom again, ruining everything. And in a diary film it’s okay to bare your soul.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is pretty much a primal scream on laughing gas.

And I suspect for families— especially families that can chuckle together at a slew of insider jokes—“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is a perfectly fun way to spend the evening together.