One For The Money (2012)

When you think of Katherine Heigl, you probably think of a cute, romantic comedy that's charming though a little cheesy. What you probably don't think of is horrible fake Italian/New Jersey accent, ludicrously unrealistic situations and a mix of overacting and no acting at all. Unfortunately, the latter is what you get with Heigl's latest flick, One For The Money.

Based on author Janet Evanovich's popular series of Stephanie Plum novels, One For The Money tells the story of how down-on-her-luck Stephanie got her start in bounty hunting. Living in New Jersey, after having lost her job as a lingerie saleswoman, Stephanie is in desperate need of some fast cash, so she turns to her cousin Vinnie for a job at his bounty hunting company. After learning that one of the men who jilted her in high school has a significant price on his head, Stephanie decides to do whatever it takes to bring in Joe Morelli. Things become more difficult than Stephanie had bargained for, though, as Joe, an undercover cop who's been charged with murder and is now hiding out, is tangled up in a complex web of lies, thugs, corruption and death.

At a glance, the cast of One For The Money seems quite strong, but first impressions can be deceiving. Katherine Heigl, who fans will remember from Grey's Anatomy and a recent slew of rom-coms, is certainly typecast, but it happens that she is quite good at what she does. Unfortunately, One For The Money takes her too far out of her comfort zone and forces her to don a fake accent and face completely unrealistic situations. Not surprisingly, Heigl falls flat.

Another actor who should bring some talent to the film is Jason O'Mara, yet he too falls flat. Nothing is wrong with his acting per se, it's more of a problem that although he is one of the main characters in the flick, he goes largely unnoticed.

Indeed the only actor who stands out in One For The Money in a good way is John Leguizamo, who brings back the creepy villainy he was known for during his days on Miami Vice. The remainder of the flick's cast falls well under the radar.

The acting in One For The Money is atrocious and the storyline is completely unbelievable. When you throw a character into a life-threatening situation and she has no visible reaction to that and instead just shrugs it off, the audience doesn't have a hope of being drawn into the film's reality. The point of watching a movie is to get lost for a while in another world, to be entertained. One For The Money does neither of these things and has virtually nothing to offer viewers. Save your money, this one is definitely not worth it.

Rating: 1 out of 5