The character of Plum is written as a loud mouthed, quick tongued, Jersey girl - none of which Hegl even remotely conveys. In addition, her New Jersey accent is awful and comes and goes throughout the entire movie. In One For the Money Hegl is front and center in a role that does not match her at all. We don’t have that character in One For the Money to balance out Hegl. Hegl does have an intelligent look to her, but at the same time she never looks happy and in general never comes across as a fun person to be around - and, in these movies the audience usually connects with the guy who pursues her because they are infinitely more likable and relatable. In movies like Knocked Up and 27 Dresses she plays the straight “wo”man to the comic actors. Audiences seem to like her in the “pretty, career-oriented, square girl who can’t find a man” role. Hegl is a one note actor, much like Jeff Goldblum (who is infinitely more likable and interesting by the way). Whatever personality the character might have had in the film is quickly murdered by Katherine Hegl who simply cannot act and despite her good looks - frankly, the film is just boring to watch.

There are glimpses in the movie that the character of Stephanie Plum probably has a lot of personality in the book series. The story itself has the basic elements of at least being entertaining, and perhaps if the film was in more capable hands it might have been. The whole production just looks and feels lazy. The choices made in this film are nothing short of uninspired and boring, and that includes set design and music too. Director Julie Anne Robinson does very little to help elevate this movie in terms of style, pacing or getting decent performances from her actors. Having not read the book series, I can’t attest to how faithful the adaption is (although from what I hear the movie butchers the book), but the movie screams amateur. To be blunt, One For the Money is a bad movie. Once she finds Morelli, Plum gets wrapped up in the case and helps Morelli solve the crime. Morelli also happens to be Plum’s ex-boyfriend from high school. Undeterred that she doesn’t even know how to fire a weapon, Plum goes after the company’s number one target Joe Morelli, a vice cop on the run suspected of murder. Desperate, Plum takes a job working for her sleazy cousin’s bail bond company as a recovery agent (aka a bounty hunter). Based on the popular book series by Janet Evanovich, One For the Money follows the exploits of New Jersey tough girl Stephanie Plum who has plenty of attitude despite being out of work and out of luck.

One for the money by janet