Given that I’m not a fan of Katherine Heigl’s movies, I liked her better in her latest outing, “One for the Money.” However, that may not be saying much. Director Julie Anne Robinson doesn’t seem to know what kind of movie she wanted to make as she veers between silly attempts at humor and a serious detective story. Based on Janet Evanovich’s popular series about Trenton bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, “One for the Money” appears to be the start of a movie franchise, assuming, of course, that this one has a successful box office run. On paper, Stephanie is an appealing character. Divorced, recently unemployed (from a job selling lingerie at Macy’s) and generally down on her luck, she is plucky and resilient, qualities that Heigl does best. However, sometimes her spirited feistiness is irritating, especially when her ineptitude as a bounty hunter causes several innocent people to be killed and a friendly prostitute (Sherri Shepherd) to be beaten. Nonetheless, Stephanie’s unsuitability for her job is essentially the basis for the entire film, yet within minutes of being offered the job, she’s tailing perps and breaking into vacant buildings like a pro.
As the film opens, Stephanie has been unemployed for several months after losing her job at Macy’s and her bank account is down to zero. She convinces her bail bondsman cousin to let her take a temporary position and a fellow bounty hunter (Daniel Sunjata) teaches her some of the ropes. She uses some of her new skills to track her ex, Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara), whose capture will net her $50,000. Along the way, Stephanie becomes embroiled in solving a murder case. As Stephanie continually charges headlong into dangerous situations with unsavory men without a thought for her personal safety, she’s inevitably bailed out by a passing male savior when she should be bailing herself out of her predicaments. “One for the Money” seems more like a made-for-TV movie and the first week’s box office seems to agree. 1/27/12
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