by Karl Madsen, Editor

I have to be honest, when I first heard that there was another Katherine Heigl project coming out I did what many others did – I had a few laughs at the project’s expense. Then I thought about the movies of hers that once I watched them, I enjoyed them. And One for the Money is no exception.

One for the Money begins with newly divorced Jersey girl Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl – Roswell, Knocked Up) going to work in her cousin Vinnie’s (Patrick Fischler – Lost) bail bond office, but ends up as a skip tracer. As you should guess, her first job is personal. Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara – Terra Nova, Life on Mars) is a cop wanted for the murder of an unarmed man, and as well as being Stephanie’s first case, was also her first (Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge). As expected, the case isn’t that easy, and the harder she tries to find Joe the more it appears he’s not guilty, with an array of characters becoming involved in the case. On her side are fellow bounty hunter Ranger (Daniel Sunjata – Rescue Me), working girls Lula (Sherri Shepard – Less Than Perfect) and Jackie (Ryan Michelle Bathe – Army Wives), mom (Debra Monk – Grey’s Anatomy) dad (Louis Mustillo – Mike and Molly) and grandma (Debbie Reynolds – Singing in the Rain), and as with any good bounty hunter she has some folks that don’t have her best interest at stake. Among these are boxer Eddie Gazarro (Nate Mooney – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), promoter Jimmy Alpha (John Leguizamo – Ice Age) and a host of their henchmen and thugs.

One for the Money is a movie based on the first novel by Janet Evanovich, but not having read the novel I can’t make an honest comparison between the two. What I can do is tell you that I enjoyed this film. Katherine Heigl turned in a perfectly fine performance as a city girl. Naïve enough to not completely understand the underbelly of society, but savvy enough to understand how things work, like, if you want to flush a guy out of hiding steal his car. And almost as good as Betty White swearing in Lake Placid is Debbie Reynolds shooting the turkey at dinner. To be honest there are flaws in this film, but hey aren’t there flaws in most films? Things such as Stephanie’s Jersey girl accent fading in and out between scenes stand out, as do the women of the night who befriend her, but who doesn’t like a friendly and funny hooker?

Special Features:

Making the Money: Behind the Scenes

Bond Girls: Kicking Ass in the Bail Bonds Industry

Gag Reel

Deleted Scenes

Karl’s Scores:

Acting – B+

Setting – A-

Story – B+

Overall – A

One for the Money is not a ground breaking, cutting edge film, and is actually on the predictable side. But that’s what I like about these types of films. The acting is always adequate at worst, the stories tend to flow, the co-stars are top notch and interesting, and I’m a sucker for a happy ending. Besides, if you were on the run from the law, there are worse people to be apprehended by than Stephanie Plum.

ComicsOnline gives One for the Money 4 high-heeled bounty hunters out of 5.

Get your copy of One for the Money on Blu-ray at Amazon.com.

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