She's looking for a few not-so-good men.
Rating: 4/10
Running Time: 106 minutes
US Certificate: PG-13 UK Certificate: 12A
Didn’t they kind of make this film last year? Gender roles were reversed but I’m pretty sure the plain awful The Bounty Hunter has been partly rehashed but there’s also enough original rubbish in here too. Good news, theres no Gerard Butler and Rachel Aniston in sight and it’s not quite as bad but that’s like saying that genital warts isn’t as bad as herpes.
One for the Money is based on Janet Evanovich’s popular rom-com crime novel series and it’s heroine Stephanie Plum (Heigl). Unemployed and newly divorced Stephanie gets a job at her cousin’s (Fischler) bail bond business as a bounty hunter. Her first assignment is to take in a disgraced cop (O’Mara) wanted for murder who’s also a romantic interest from her past. He claims he didn’t do it but will she believe him? Spoiler! Yes.
Ex-Holby City and various daytime TV tat Director Julie Anne Robinson’s movie is a little talky for it’s own good – including a bland narrative that gets in the way – and it”s not as clever as it thinks it is. After a promising start with Knocked Up and Grey’s Anatomy, Heigl is quickly becoming a bi-word for sub-par rom-com and this is no different. She is perky and sassy as Stephanie with a can-do, doing it for girls attitude that will be popular with many of the man-hating ladies out there and, in my opinion, but not the opinion of the loyal fans of the books, makes an okay account of herself. The support cast are hit-and-miss as many of them seem intent on just getting through the movie with their basically written characters but some do offer the odd chuckle, like Debbie Reynolds as the amusingly offensive Grandma Mazur.
Overall, the movie doesn’t quite have the fun factor that the makers hoped and it’s just not that funny or watchable. At best, the books should have been made into a TV mini series – Robinson’s niche.
It's Got: Decent performance by Heigl and some of the support cast
It Needs: Funnier action, less of the narrative, more focus on the plot than the talky dialogue
Summary
For once, this below par rom-com chick flick is no reason here to crucify Katherine Heigl as she does her perky best with the flimsy material at her disposal. Not quite as fun and likeable as the makers and the fans of the books would have been hoping for.