Starring: Katherine Heigl, Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, Patrick Fischler, Sherrie Shepherd, and Debbie Reynolds.
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 91 mins. Reviewed in Feb 2012
| 
| 
This comedy film is based on the 1994 book of the same name by Janet Evanovich, which was a best seller in the US. The film was shot in Pennsylvania, USA.
It tells the story of Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl), who accepts a job as a recovery agent and bounty hunter in a bail-bond business, run by her sleazy cousin, Vinnie (Patrick Fischler). She has no training for the job, has been divorced recently, and is desperate for employment. She is behind in her rent and her car payments, and she is happy to accept anything that pays quickly. In the meantime, her family keeps the pressures on her to find a good job, settle down, and marry again.
Because the bounty hunting of some people pays particularly well, she takes on the job of pursuing Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara), who is a former policeman on the loose, and wanted for the killing of an unarmed man. Joe has a bounty of $50K hanging on his head. But Joe also happens to be the person who seduced Stephanie back in high school, when she was 17 years of age, and who then dumped her. Stephanie still carries the hurt, and she tries valiantly to bring him in.
An agent, named Ranger (Daniel Sunjata), gives her lessons in bounty hunting, what not to do, and how to fire a gun, and he pairs well with Stephanie. In pursuing Joe Morelli, with the help of Ranger, she comes to the conclusion that the evidence against him doesn’t quite add up, or make sense. But more importantly for her, is the fact that her old attraction for Joe starts to re-surface, causing major problems. Despite them, however, the film marches predictably to a happy ending.
As Stephanie, Heigl plays her role with an affecting vulnerability, but her attraction to Joe doesn’t spark, and the laughs along the way are relatively few, despite the film’s best efforts to arouse them. There is potential tension in the plot, but solid tension is hardly ever realised, and action is too often supplanted by Stephanie’s voice-over explaining what is happening, when live action should have carried the message about what was occurring. Nevertheless, there are some good comic moments. Sherri Shepherd gives a great performance as a friendly hooker, and Patrick Fischler brings comic zest to his role as Vinnie. But comedy goes well off track in other ways. An ageing Debbie Reynolds plays the part of Stephanie’s exhibitionistic grandma, who is not quite of sound mind. She doesn’t fit the plot at all, and her over-acting detracts sadly from the famous roles she has taken in an illustrious career.
Evanovich’s book was about crime that had a comic touch. This movie aims for comedy and mystery, and misses out on both. One of the reasons for this is that, despite every effort, Katherine Heigl struggles to make her role very convincing, and the chemistry between her and Jason O’Mara doesn’t make up for what the film fails to deliver in other ways.
This is a film that shows good promise of what might have been, but never quite rises to the challenge.
12 Random Films…
