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Heigl continues to show some glimmer as a promising young actress nearly 20 years after her big screen debut in a minor, supporting role in the 1992 coming-of-age film That Night. Heigl’s problem as Plum not that she isn’t a talented screen actress. Heigl is actually kind of fun in the role. Her problem here is that she’s playing a character who is so narrowly drawn with her own charm that it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for individual interpretation.

Heigl adopts the Jersey accent as best as possible and goes through the motions, but the character is already so well-rendered in the novel that she’s just aping Plum. Every other actor in a solidly competent ensemble does a pretty good job of copying the feel and tone of the novel in some way, but it the action present in the film seems like a slightly convoluted copy of a copy of a copy.

The actual plot of the story has been dismantled and abbreviated as one might expect, but some of the original, offbeat flavor is lost. This is a slightly sanitized version of what’s going on in the book. And because it feels like a Hollywood version of New Jersey, we never really feel like Heigl’s Plum is ever even in the kind of casual danger the book casts her in. In the book, we know Plum is in over her head and she’s going to make it out of the book fine. In the movie, we know Plum is in over her head and she’s going to make it out fine - and we don’t care. It’s because any personality beyond the big superficial quirks gets bled out in a film that does its best to transfer itself onto the big screen.

The Verdict

One For The Money is a cinematic Hollywood action-inspired novel that carried a lot of its appeal from the novelty of reading an action film. Turning a novel that is an action film into an actual action film was a serious miscalculation on the part of nearly everyone involved. The novel isn’t brilliant, but it’s fun. The movie isn’t brilliant, but it’s not as much fun as the book. Everyone involved can get on with their lives. It was kind of a weird project, but it’s over now. Heigl continues to show promise. Her next movie is about a wedding. The cast includes Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams and Diane Keaton. It’s got to be good, right? Right?

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