Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) lost her job half a year ago and can’t afford to pay her bills. As her car is collected during family dinner, the idea rises to do some temp work at her cousin’s office, who is bail bondsman. Unfortunately that job is already done, but she „convinces“ him to let her do some work as a bail enforcement agent (bounty hunter). Without experience and equipment, but with the dire need for some cash (and for a little revenge), she decides to go for his biggest jumper, her ex-lover Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara). As she digs deeper into his case, she discovers that he might not be as guilty as they say he is.

Well, a crime-comedy with the obvious romance. I’m left with mixed feelings about the main character. Is the role written inconsequent or was Heigl’s acting bad? I have to admit, that I’ve never read the book, but my problem is, that the character is shifting between being anxious and being tough. I mean if Janet Evanovich wrote 18+5 books (so far) about a female bounty hunter, I would expect the heroine to be quite tough or dead by the middle of the second novel (unless she’s an anti-heroine, in that case the movie is even worse). I do understand that a character has to get used to new life situations, but all that jumping seems awkward, especially with all the stupidity that sticks to her till the very end. Anyway, aside that, the overall acting was on the same level as it is with most romantic comedies, which is, let’s say, not that good. But one can like the characters, leading and supporting, they just play a lot of clichés. The story is nothing new (as in: full of tropes), has a few flaws (as in: full of holes), but is overall enjoyable.

Okay, all that was a bit vague. I’ll tell you what I think that movie is good for. It’s good for dates. Men and women can watch it, without being appalled, since it’s not bad, gives some romance, gives some action and gives some comedy. Since the story is easy to follow, you don’t need to pay full attention to it and can focus on something or someone else. And if you don’t have high expectations, you can’t be disappointed (still talking about the movie, but I’ll leave the wider interpretation to you).
And maybe you want to watch the movie if you like the books, but that’s just a wild guess, since I don’t know for sure how off it is compared to them. In any other case, if Heigl’s side-boob is not enough reason for you to watch it, go watch something else.

Deutscher Titel: Einmal ist keinmal
Link: IMDB: One for the Money, IMDB: This Review