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One for the Money (2012)
Katherine Heigl
Almost everyone I know who’s read the novel upon which this film is based said before the film’s release that it was difficult to picture Katherine Heigl in the role of Stephanie Plum, the lingerie-buyer-turned-bounty-hunter heroine of more than eighteen books. I had only read the first three books in the series by the time I saw the film in theaters, and I didn’t have such a problem, not being especially familiar with Heigl anyway.
I think she works. With hair dyed black for this role, she brings a smart sexiness that I really like on screen. She’s still not what I picture when I read the books (I’m now through six of them), but for the movie version of this character, I really like her.
For the uninitiated, Stephanie Plum finds herself out of work and out of prospects, so she prevails upon her cousin Vinnie, a bail bond agent, to give her a job as a bounty hunter. Her first assignment is Joe Morelli, a cop suspected of shooting someone without cause, a cop with whom Stephanie also has some romantic history. Morelli is too good to be brought in by the likes of Stephanie, so the bounty hunter tries to help track down the people involved in the crime Morelli was investigating as a means to clearing his name. “Cops don’t do too good in prison,” Morelli reminds Stephanie.
The story is interesting enough, but it’s Stephanie everything depends on in this movie. If you like and care about Stephanie, you’ll enjoy this picture, and you’ll probably be willing to tolerate a plot that resolves much, much too quickly and without enough background info. I’ve seen the picture three times and the only reason I can make sense of what happens at the end is that I read the novel.
I liked Heigl in Knocked Up, and I didn’t think much of her at all in the very weak The Ugly Truth. She’s much better in One for the Money than in either of those pictures, confidently carrying the film with a cute personality and lots of down-to-earth sexiness. She affects a New Jersey accent I am unqualified to evaluate, but it works for me and I like it. Mostly, though, there’s just a really charming, unwarranted confidence she approaches every strange and dangerous situation with, as if she knows she doesn’t know what she’s doing but is pretty sure things will work out.
There are some differences that will matter only to fans of the series, but they are mostly small and not especially disappointing. I’m not a huge fan of the portrayal of Stephanie’s family, which is even more cartoony than in the novels, and Jason O’Mara took some getting used to as Morelli. Daniel Sunjata really works as Ranger; I was disappointed in Nate Mooney as Eddie Gazarra, a particular favorite of mine in the books. It’s a small complaint because again, it will all come down to how willing readers are to accept Heigl as their Stephanie. It works for me, and I’d be interested in seeing a sequel.
7/10 (IMDb rating)
72/100 (Criticker rating)
Katherine Heigl
Almost everyone I know who’s read the novel upon which this film is based said before the film’s release that it was difficult to picture Katherine Heigl in the role of Stephanie Plum, the lingerie-buyer-turned-bounty-hunter heroine of more than eighteen books. I had only read the first three books in the series by the time I saw the film in theaters, and I didn’t have such a problem, not being especially familiar with Heigl anyway.
I think she works. With hair dyed black for this role, she brings a smart sexiness that I really like on screen. She’s still not what I picture when I read the books (I’m now through six of them), but for the movie version of this character, I really like her.
For the uninitiated, Stephanie Plum finds herself out of work and out of prospects, so she prevails upon her cousin Vinnie, a bail bond agent, to give her a job as a bounty hunter. Her first assignment is Joe Morelli, a cop suspected of shooting someone without cause, a cop with whom Stephanie also has some romantic history. Morelli is too good to be brought in by the likes of Stephanie, so the bounty hunter tries to help track down the people involved in the crime Morelli was investigating as a means to clearing his name. “Cops don’t do too good in prison,” Morelli reminds Stephanie.
The story is interesting enough, but it’s Stephanie everything depends on in this movie. If you like and care about Stephanie, you’ll enjoy this picture, and you’ll probably be willing to tolerate a plot that resolves much, much too quickly and without enough background info. I’ve seen the picture three times and the only reason I can make sense of what happens at the end is that I read the novel.
I liked Heigl in Knocked Up, and I didn’t think much of her at all in the very weak The Ugly Truth. She’s much better in One for the Money than in either of those pictures, confidently carrying the film with a cute personality and lots of down-to-earth sexiness. She affects a New Jersey accent I am unqualified to evaluate, but it works for me and I like it. Mostly, though, there’s just a really charming, unwarranted confidence she approaches every strange and dangerous situation with, as if she knows she doesn’t know what she’s doing but is pretty sure things will work out.
There are some differences that will matter only to fans of the series, but they are mostly small and not especially disappointing. I’m not a huge fan of the portrayal of Stephanie’s family, which is even more cartoony than in the novels, and Jason O’Mara took some getting used to as Morelli. Daniel Sunjata really works as Ranger; I was disappointed in Nate Mooney as Eddie Gazarra, a particular favorite of mine in the books. It’s a small complaint because again, it will all come down to how willing readers are to accept Heigl as their Stephanie. It works for me, and I’d be interested in seeing a sequel.
7/10 (IMDb rating)
72/100 (Criticker rating)