MOVIE REVIEW: One For The Money

Ladies, lets be honest with each other. We read the books and now the main reason that we went to see the movie ONE FOR THE MONEY was to see Ranger and Morelli. Ever since Janet Evanovich first introduced us to Stephanie Plum with her bizarre family and friends, the question has been, “ Ranger or Morelli?”

It took me several scenes to accept Jason O’Mara as Joseph Morelli. Come on, an Italian stud with blue eyes? That was not how I pictured him. Soon I was convinced. This is a fairly new actor who bares watching.

Ranger had to have been difficult to cast. Every woman that I talked to had her own fantasy of the mysterious Ranger. Daniel Sunjata was a good choice. He certainly met the physical qualifications and the possibilities were there. Time did not allow for much development of the character. As with most of the characters, I am not sure if someone who had not read the books would have understood him.

I know that it is hard for a book to be condensed into a movie and many things have to be dropped, but I missed the humor that Grandma Mazur brought to the books. Debbie Reynolds could have taken this role and run with it. Three short scenes were not enough. We never got to see her at a funeral. Seeing the turkey get shot almost made up for that oversight.

Sherri Shepherd was a good choice as Lulu. I was afraid that they would go “Hollywood” on us and cast Halle Berry.

Katherine Heigl was better casting as Stephanie Plum than I expected. Seeing her learn to shoot and watching the spunk it took to deal with the men in her life made it believable that she could save the day at the end.

I enjoyed the movie ONE FOR THE MONEY. I understand that it is impossible to live up to what a reader sees when reading a book and I should not compare, but is hard not to, especially when the books are special. I am always interested in hearing from those who see the movie and have not read the book.
Now to get back to the original question: Ranger or Morelli? I took a very informal poll as I was leaving the lobby after the show. The majority had the same problem as Stephanie--They would find it hard to say no to either.