A Plum Role Is Not So Peachy in One for the Money
The good news about the 2012 movie One for the Money? It is about as accurate an adaptation of Janet Evanovich's novel of the same name as one can expect.
The bad news? Janet Evanovich's novel is kinda meh for a mystery novel.
Granted, my taste in mystery novels is a bit eclectic, if not eccentric. I have read only one Agatha Christie novel in all my life, never finished the various Sherlock Holmes novels and stories until just last year and yet found time to read every mystery novel written by Charlaine Harris prior to completing the Arthur Conan Doyle stories. (I know. Shocking.)
That said, the original novel One for the Money was still kinda meh, even accounting for the fact that it was written at a time when lady bounty hunters were still considered a novelty and that not every mystery reader necessarily identifies with female protagonists who are near perfect. Granted, I don't expect every mystery novel to be my cup of tea but I have run across books in the mystery genre that I have liked better.
Anyway, the movie itself was okay once I got over the fact that Stephanie Plum -- the main character -- was a throwback to the days when women were generally expected to know little about guns or self-defense or well, anything. It did not help that Jennifer Morrison had played a more convincing bounty hunter in the first episode of the TV series Once Upon a Time. However, actress Katherine Heigl -- who played Ms. Plum -- was likeable enough to at least play a convincing amateur bounty hunter though her allegedly "lovable" clumsiness got old fast. I did not mind the constant examples of her lousy marksmanship; after all, I know from experience that it is not always as easy to shoot a gun as it looks on television. But the fact that she never gained the common sense to put her gun somewhere other than her purse just did not seem very realistic to me.
Indeed, in the age of Veronica Mars and Rizzoli & Isles, Ms. Plum's amateurishness seemed especially exasperating. And apparently the box office agreed since there appears to be no sign of a sequel.
It is probably just as well. As nice as it was to see the likes of Debbie Reynolds and John Leguizamo earning a paycheck in supporting roles, I must admit that there are better movies out there. Fortunately for me, this was just a library rental. And some might argue that this movie was worth about as much as I paid for it...
The good news about the 2012 movie One for the Money? It is about as accurate an adaptation of Janet Evanovich's novel of the same name as one can expect.
The bad news? Janet Evanovich's novel is kinda meh for a mystery novel.
Granted, my taste in mystery novels is a bit eclectic, if not eccentric. I have read only one Agatha Christie novel in all my life, never finished the various Sherlock Holmes novels and stories until just last year and yet found time to read every mystery novel written by Charlaine Harris prior to completing the Arthur Conan Doyle stories. (I know. Shocking.)
That said, the original novel One for the Money was still kinda meh, even accounting for the fact that it was written at a time when lady bounty hunters were still considered a novelty and that not every mystery reader necessarily identifies with female protagonists who are near perfect. Granted, I don't expect every mystery novel to be my cup of tea but I have run across books in the mystery genre that I have liked better.
Anyway, the movie itself was okay once I got over the fact that Stephanie Plum -- the main character -- was a throwback to the days when women were generally expected to know little about guns or self-defense or well, anything. It did not help that Jennifer Morrison had played a more convincing bounty hunter in the first episode of the TV series Once Upon a Time. However, actress Katherine Heigl -- who played Ms. Plum -- was likeable enough to at least play a convincing amateur bounty hunter though her allegedly "lovable" clumsiness got old fast. I did not mind the constant examples of her lousy marksmanship; after all, I know from experience that it is not always as easy to shoot a gun as it looks on television. But the fact that she never gained the common sense to put her gun somewhere other than her purse just did not seem very realistic to me.
Indeed, in the age of Veronica Mars and Rizzoli & Isles, Ms. Plum's amateurishness seemed especially exasperating. And apparently the box office agreed since there appears to be no sign of a sequel.
It is probably just as well. As nice as it was to see the likes of Debbie Reynolds and John Leguizamo earning a paycheck in supporting roles, I must admit that there are better movies out there. Fortunately for me, this was just a library rental. And some might argue that this movie was worth about as much as I paid for it...
Labels: Janet Evanovich, Jason O'Mara, John Leguizamo, Julie Anne Robinson, Katherine Heigl, Películas Nuevas IV, Sólo por Dinero, Stephanie Plum
posted by Tonio Kruger at 4:10 PM
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