One for the Money (2012)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Bathsheba M

  
  This is an entertaining movie and Heigel is perfect as Stephanie Plum. Okay, official critics, it's not Citizen Kane, but it isn't pretending to be...can't you see the difference between art and entertainment? Nice to see a movie where the women is the hero!

• Markus R

  
  This is what you get when Gerard Butler passes on your film. I hated "One for the Money" the first time when it was called "Bounty Hunter". This beloved Janet Evanovich novel was horribly adapted for the big screen by the writing team of Stacy Sherman, Karen… More
  This is what you get when Gerard Butler passes on your film. I hated "One for the Money" the first time when it was called "Bounty Hunter". This beloved Janet Evanovich novel was horribly adapted for the big screen by the writing team of Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray and Lix Brixius and directed in an edit first ask questions later fashion by Julie Anne Robinson (The Last Song). Starring Katherine Heigl (Knocked up) in her worst role since "The Ugly Truth", and two other actors nobody has ever heard of, Jason O'Mara and Daniel Sunjata, this film centers around an unemployed woman named Stephanie Plum, who goes to work for her incestuous cousin as a bounty hunter. And lo and behold her first assignment is to trail a local cop turned fugitive, whom we discover Stephanie had a one night stand with in High School. Sounds like a set up for your run of the mill chick-flick, romantic comedy right? Well, while on paper "One for the Money" does have potential, one of the biggest problems with this movie is how (about five minutes in) audiences will notice how it seems as if there was tons of back-story that while severely germane to the plot and the events throughout, is never addressed, giving viewers the feeling as if they had walked into the theater mid-movie (or that "One for the Money" is a sequel of some sorts). For example: Random characters seem to come in and out of this movie as if the we are supposed to know who these people are; from a woman Stephanie talks to on the phone throughout the film who is never formally introduced, to a rapist and a fight promoter, who are both pivotal to the climax of the film, but are in all of two scenes a piece. More problems: On a purely entertainment level, "One for the Money" gets to the point where once the exposition is exhausted, and we know everyone's name (after the first fifteen minutes) audiences are forced to sit thought Katherine Heigl nonchalantly collecting evidence, flirting with the two male leads, talking with prostitutes and dealing with her eccentric family. While all of that sounds better than said bounty hunter storyline, it's not! As I said before, the potential for a decent storyline could have been achieved, if not for a countless number of undeveloped supporting characters, as well as multiple plotlines with no beginning or end. Suffice to say, the meat of this story comes off as quite boring, unnecessary and at times confusing. Another aspect of the film that is majorly flawed is the characters Stephanie interacts with. They are so one-dimensional, that when something bad happens to the strange pothead Asian character or the prostitute character is left for dead, NOBODY CARES. Why? Because audiences are not allowed to form any sort of connection to anyone on-screen because of some awful character development. It isn't like "One for the Money" has any raunchy scenes that may upset the older crowd, or overtly violent scenes that may upset the rom-com (romantic comedy) crowd, or a lot of jokes about feminine hygiene that may upset the male crowd, BUT maybe it should have because this is truly the type of film that while things happen, none of the events are of any memorable significance. And I haven't even addressed the fact that this comedy isn't funny at all (another aspect I blame fully on the writing) or how the film is drenched with obnoxious Jersey-isms that get tired real quick. At the end of the day, if you haven't read any of the Stephanie Plum books in the Evanovich series, then you will not know (or care) about what is going on, if you like romantic comedies, you really will find it hard to see any kind of chemistry with anybody in the love triangle between Heigl, O'Mara and Sunjata (due to some fairly forgettable dialogue) and if you are a fan of Heigl, even you will be shocked at how easily she slips in and out of her alleged "Jersey" accent. Final Thought: Even if you think you know what you are getting with "One for the Money" because you are a fan of the book series, you will inevitably be disappointed with the treatment of the source material. Furthermore, it may or may not (depending on whether or not you have seen the movie) upset audiences to discover that "One for the Money" more than likely will be the first and last of the Stephanie Plum series to be adapted to the big screen, simply because of the negative box office return it is more than likely to receive. So, because this is the type of film I am talking about when I make brash statements such as: "it is a shame that there are so few good roles for women nowadays", skip "One for the Money". Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

• jay n

  
  Unexceptional but enjoyable comedy drama is missing much of a punch but moves along briskly. Heigl is adequate in the lead but lacks a certain grittiness that the part calls for. Debbie Reynolds is sassy as the grandmother

• Walter M

  
  Divorced and just out of work, Stephanie Plum(Katherine Heigl) is in desperate need for cash after the repossession of her red sports car. Luckily, her cousin Vinnie(Patrick Fischler) has an opening at his business. Granted, it is bail bonds, but after three years selling lingerie… More
  Divorced and just out of work, Stephanie Plum(Katherine Heigl) is in desperate need for cash after the repossession of her red sports car. Luckily, her cousin Vinnie(Patrick Fischler) has an opening at his business. Granted, it is bail bonds, but after three years selling lingerie at a department store, Stephanie feels more than qualified in dealing with low lifes and confident she can bring in Joe Morelli(Jason O'Mara, for once not playing a time traveling detective) who she "gave her cannoli to"(never heard that one before) and later tried to run over with her car. However, it does not go as well as she thought. So, she puts on a more sensible pair of shoes and enlists for further training with Ranger(Daniel Sunjata), a fellow bounty hunter. "One for the Money" is not quite the end of civilization you may have heard it was. Admittedly, it is uneven, staying on the silly and broad end of the spectrum, but not so much as to end up as caricature. While Katherine Heigl is no Rosalind Russell, she is still an appealing presence, heading a likable cast that has fun with the material. The movie is not entirely mindless either as it is about a woman trying to prove herself by trying to separate herself from her past, operating on familiar turf, while learning from her mistakes along the way.(Plus, Stephanie wears a Rangers shirt.) See, not everybody gets to be Mallory Kane right off the bat.

• Jeff B

  
  One step removed from being a Lifetime TV Movie starring Angie Harmon and Meredith Baxter, this uneven Money won't live to see Two for the Show. Oh, it's not that the story, based on Janet Evanovich's novel, isn't worthy of an on-screen dust-up. The dialogue sounds… More
  One step removed from being a Lifetime TV Movie starring Angie Harmon and Meredith Baxter, this uneven Money won't live to see Two for the Show. Oh, it's not that the story, based on Janet Evanovich's novel, isn't worthy of an on-screen dust-up. The dialogue sounds like it was probably snappy...on paper, that is. On film, it could've used a vervy pop culture-infused touch-up a la Quentin Tarantino's work on Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch, which became the beyond excellent Jackie Brown. Instead, poor casting and a screenplay that's sadly P to the G despite clocking a '13' makes for One unfortunate bounty. In her latest, this PG-13-rated adventure, a down-on-her-luck Jersey girl named Stephanie Plum (Heigl) convinces her sleazy bail bondsman cousin to give her a job as a bounty hunter, which leads her into an investigation involving a vice cop wanted for murder (O'Hara)-an ex who broke her heart years before. Katherine Heigl is good at some roles...it's just that this reviewer hasn't seen them yet. In her defense, the lines, laughs, and lucre are too heavy-handed even for Meryl Streep to bail the material out. Having Irishman O'Mara (great on ABC's cancelled oddity Life on Mars, here...not so much) play wronged Italian cop Morelli doesn't help matters much. Of course, when an actor makes a dated reference by calling his sparring partner "cupcake," it's hardly his fault alone. Director Julie Anne Robinson and her 3 (count them--3!) screenwriters are unable to re-capture the magic that has sustained the popularity of Evanovich's Plum for 18 novels. Bottom line: Dog of a bounty hunter.

• Jason C

  
  Yes, I actuallly went to see this movie. I'm not proud of it, but I did. One for the Money is, I would argue, Katherine Heigl's worst effort to date. And she was in The Ringer. The story never takes off, the acting is simple and uninspired, her supporting cast is second… More
  Yes, I actuallly went to see this movie. I'm not proud of it, but I did. One for the Money is, I would argue, Katherine Heigl's worst effort to date. And she was in The Ringer. The story never takes off, the acting is simple and uninspired, her supporting cast is second rate, her attempt to be a "Jersey girl" is horrible, and the dialogue is worse than Heigl's performance. There is nothing new, interesting, or exciting about One for the Money (except she's covering her breasts with her hand in one scene, and I think she has the best breasts in Hollywood). She's making her living off simple, funny, unoriginal movies, but there is no way she's reading her own scripts if she's taking parts like this. And with a director like Julie Anne Robinson leading this cast, and a writing cast that has nothing in experience between them, even if the script did start out OK, it didn't stand a chance. I'll bet Janet Evanovich wanted to punch somebody for doing this to her novel.

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