Film Review: Katherine Heigl’s ‘One For the Money’ Was Made For No One

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CHICAGO – Just under five years ago, Katherine Heigl became a decently known actress in the film world for her role as Alison in the Judd Apatow film “Knocked Up.” After having been in the show “Grey’s Anatomy” for a few years, Heigl had finally broke into the world of cinema, and seemed to have a decent amount of comedy acting skills. Now, several years and a few bad movies in a row, Heigl seems to be desperately holding on to whatever career she still has left.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

The newest film she stars in, “One for the Money,” is just another messy and disappointing entry on her resume (like “Life As We Know It,” “The Ugly Truth,” and “27 Dresses,” among others). Set in New Jersey, Heigl plays Stephanie Plum, an out-of-luck and out-of-work single woman who turns to her cousin for employment at his bail-bond business. That’s right, this untrained, inexperienced young woman in high heels plans on pulling off her best Dog the Bounty Hunter impression in order to make a living. Sure, she got laid off from her small job at Macy’s, but there has to be a better choice of occupation, right?

Read Tim Martens’ full review of “One For the Money” in our reviews section.

Lucky for Stephanie, the biggest bounty her cousin has right now happens to a guy named Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara), who Stephanie lost her virginity to in high school, and the $500,000 bail would give her a nice $50,000 payday which (we are continuously reminded) would “change her life.” Not only is this lucky for her as she already knows her target, he also happens to be a respected police officer, and the case he was involved in is still under some question.

So, Stephanie starts her pursuit of finding this Morelli who, amazingly, no one has been able to track down. Of course, Stephanie (with her zero experience in this area) is able to track him down in about three minutes of film time. Joe easily laughs off her attempt to bring him in and escapes by throwing Stephanie’s car keys into a trash bin. As Stephanie is continuously mocked by other bondsman and bounty hunters for thinking she could actually bring him down, one has to wonder how any of these professionals could laugh considering this girl that is completely new to the job found Morelli before any of them could. Only in the movies, folks.

Continue reading for Tim Martens’ full “One For the Money” review.

One For the Money
Photo credit: Lionsgate