ONE FOR THE MONEY - Heigl For The Show

ONE FOR THE MONEY (romantic comedy)
Cast: Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara, Daniel Sunjata, Nate Mooney, John Leguizamo, Sherri Shepherd and Debbie Reynolds
Director: Julie Ann Robinson
Screenplay: Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray and Liz Brixius based on the novel by Janet Evanovich
Time: 91 mins
Rating: *  *  (out of 4)

I WANT YOUR PIECE: Katherine Heigl and Daniel Sunjata

PREAMBLE: Catherine Heigl is one of Hollywood's hottest young actresses tasked with 'selling' a movie these days. She has the ravishing looks of Marilyn Monroe, the quirky contradictions of Meg Ryan and the cool charms of Julia Roberts. Pity, though, she does not have the luck or the knack of these rom-com veterans in picking good movies.

One For The Money is based on the best-selling novel by Janet Evanovich - about a bounty hunter named Stephanie Plum (played by Heigl). And since there are now 18 volumes in this series about Plum, we suspect that this may be the start of a new franchise with Heigl playing bounty hunter. Gawd forbid!

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Thirty-year-old Stephanie is recently divorced, broke and desperate for a job after experiencing a series of misfortunes. Working as a 'recovery agent' at her cousin Vinnie's bail bond business, Stephanie goes for the top of the list - a US$50,000 pay check on vice cop Joe Morelli (Jason O'Mara) who is accused of killing a drug dealer.

Well, whaddaya know? Steph, a former Macy's salesgirl, not only goes after her man, an experienced cop, but also tries to solve the murder case that seems to have rattled the district police.  

HITS & MISSES: Heigl may be engaging playing her usual Miss Plucky, but her Stephanie is not the character we can root for. She is an impulsive woman who runs over her ex-lover with her car (just because he does not call her back after sex) and squanders the audience’s patience with her selfish and fumbling ways. And if Stephanie's behaviour seems unreal, the main men in her life are almost cartoons.

Besides Morelli, who seems obliged to come to her rescue every now and then, there is that hunky Hispanic cop Ranger (Daniel Sunjata) who appears to have nothing better to do than to be at Stephanie's beck and call. Granted that these are just director Julie Ann Robinson's attempt at providing eye-candy for the females in the audience, she could have given them better motivations.

The same applies to a helpful prostitute played by Sherri Shepherd, a bullish and bullying kick-boxer (Gavin-Keith Umeh) and Debbie Reynolds’ glib-talking role (above) as Stephanie’s grandmother. These are stereotyped caricatures that stick out of the comedy more than they complement it.

THE LOWDOWN: One for the Money, Two for the Show and Another Limp Outing for Heigl.