“One For The Money,” starring Katherine Heigl, is a romantic comedy film based off a book series by Janet Evanovich.

Heigl plays Stephanie Plum, an unemployed woman who is strapped for cash and in need of a job. She goes to her cousin’s company, Vinnie’s Bail Bonds, and takes a job as a bail bonds worker to pay the bills. Her first assignment is to bring in Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara), a former police officer who is wanted for murder and just so happens to be her ex-boyfriend.

Plum is a not very skilled at her new job, and she seeks the help of a bounty hunter called Ranger (Daniel Sunjata) to teach her the basics of being a bounty hunter. As she learns more, and realizes Morelli may not be the murderer, Plum goes on an adventure to solve the case.

“One For The Money” has many problems for a film that could have been good, but it ends up being pretty disappointing and boring to watch.

One of the main problems is a poorly written script and not enough details in the film for the audience to understand unless they read the book. We are left with lame lines such as “We’re ancient history, like the pyramids baby.”

A confusing aspect is a character that Plum calls all the time, but the audience is left with no idea who this character is or why she is even in the film. It makes no sense to have such a character without any sort of background.

Heigl did not suit the role of Stephanie. Her New Jersey accent in this film was atrocious, especially since she goes in and out of the accent, and her acting makes her look like she is trying too hard. 

Jason O’Mara was decent as Morelli – and is a good-looking actor – but is not memorable. Sherri Shepard plays Lulu, a friendly hooker, with John Leguizamo as Jimmy Alpha, an important alibi to Plum in the film. Both are good in their roles, especially Sheppard. Her character was funny and has a good heart, which made her an enjoyable part of the film.

The film’s scenes drag on a lot. The beginning of the film is boring as Plum takes a job and does not know what she is doing half of the time. The audience is left bored as she is learning on the fly and trying to figure out the case. It does not pick up until the middle and end of the film when Plum gets better at her job and is closer to solving the case.

As bad as “One For The Money” was, it did have some humorous moments. Debbie Reynolds plays Grandma Mazur who is an amusing and sassy grandma. She was one of the few funny characters and her best moment is when she pulls out Plum’s handgun during a family dinner and accidentally shoots the roasted chicken on the table.

The ending was also not solid, it was disappointing because it was dull and did not work. There was nothing new or shocking, and you could predict what was going to happen at the end. 

“One For The Money” is not great, and it fails to make someone want to see it again.

Brittany Lambert can be reached at [email protected].