One For The Money: Movie Review
I wanted to write this up before I went to bed. I'm not a big fan of movies based on books. (I might have mentioned this before.) I've been reading the Stephanie Plum books for years. I've been to three book signings and I'm biting at the bit for Janet Evanovich's next book Wicked Business. It's a Diesel and Lizzie book.
I was really worried about One For The Money. I'm not a big fan of Katherine Heigl. All of that stuff with Grey's Anatomy and I absolutely hated The Ugly Truth and Knocked Up. On the other hand, I loved 27 Dresses and The Killers wasn't bad. Also, as much as I adore Jason O'Mara, I wasn't sure about him playing Joe Morelli. (I mean, c'mon, it's Morelli.)
Well, if you're worried about the movie not living up to the book - worry no more! Except for a few things, it basically mirrors the book. The few, small(ish) things that they did change, make sense. The book can get a bit gruesome, and would have been a bit difficult to translate onto screen. The movie is supposed to be a comedy, with the beginning inklings of romance slipped in. And it does that. And it follows the book. My friend, ML, even pointed out that some of the dialogue was straight out of the book.
I wish movie makers would look to this example. (Do you hear me people who made Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? Do you?) Heigl and O'Mara do a wonderful job. (O'Mara does a spectacular job as Morelli. Really, I'm very impressed.)
(I'm also not a big fan of Sheri Shephard, but her Lula was pretty good.)
And yes, Grandma does shoot the bird on the table. The theater wasn't very full (we went kind of early, as far as movies on a Friday night are concerned) but every burst out in laughter.
Ranger's presence isn't very strong, but it's based on the first book and he wasn't there as often as Morelli and Stephanie. And the guy who plays Ranger (I forget his name, sorry) did a good job, as well. And I liked that Debra Monk (who played George's Mom on Grey's Anatomy) and Louis Mustillo (Molly's Mom's boyfriend on Mike & Molly) are in a movie.
(Ranger was played by Daniel Sunjata. I looked it up. And I've just realized that he used to play Nurse Eli on Grey's Anatomy. I'm sensing a theme here. He played Bailey's old love interest. Dr. Ben is back. I like Dr. Ben. I digress.)
All in all, I really did like this movie. I will definitely buy it on DVD when it comes out. And I know that the release date kept moving around, but I think it was worth it. Also, they should do another movie. Maybe not book 2 (Two For The Money) but maybe skip a few books, use that as the basis of the movie, and fill in any gaps that need to be filled through dialogue.
It's an idea.
Go see this movie, whether you like (or have heard of) the books or not. It's definitely worth it. Take some friends . . . and your mother. They'll love it.