I haven’t seen ‘One For The Money’. There are, what, 18 novels in Janet Evanovich’s series about Stephanie Plum. Rotten Tomatoes offers up 24 very bad reviews of the movie made from one of them, resulting in a 0% rating. And I mean BAD reviews. I always say this, ‘I never read such bad reviews’, but these go above and beyond vicious. Katherine Heigl has been talking about going back to Grey’s Anatomy if they’ll take her, she better hope someone is agreeable to that idea!
That’s a shame. I’ve never read the books, but I like Heigl and my friend loves the books and was excited about the film. OTOH if ever there was an excuse to bring her and other past regulars back to Greys, the upcoming alternate timeline episode would be it, and only Addison made the cut.
In other related news, I found an odd glitch on Rotten Tomatoes. It listed three reviews with splatted tomatoes for Chronicle, but the were positive reviews, and it even tallied the reviews as “three positive”. What up?
Even if the movie was great, there’d be no need for a sequel. All the books are basically the same.
I have to say that I was surprised that they even tried to make a movie out of one of the Stephanie Plum books. I always figured a sitcom was a better fit for the series. Hell, most of the books read like a “Lucy becomes a bounty hunter” episode of I Love Lucy.
Well that seems appropriate, because one of the major complaints that the reviews have about the movie is that it’s too much like a sitcom.
A colleague at work lent me a few of the books and they were quick, mindless fun to read. Yes, they were all very much “sitcom” novels, so I would expect nothing more from the movie.
Not sure if I will go see it in a movie theater, but will certainly watch it when it comes on cable. However, I do agree it probably would have made a better TV series, or at least a series of made-for-TV movies.
The books are hugely popular, so my guess is the box office might not be as dismal as the Rotten Tomatoes reviews might indicate. If the fans of the book show up, it should break even.
Not prescreened for critics and a Groupon discount for tickets for opening weekend. What a great combo vote of confidence for the movie.
Note that there is no major male actor in the movie. No Butler, Kutcher (okay, not so major), etc.
Heigl is having a hard time getting anyone of note to co-star with her in her bombs. (She’s a co-producer on this one.)
Checking RT: Someone gave it a positive review! 1 for 28. Woohoo. (“A guilty pleasure.”) Track her Tomatometer decline.
Time to fire Mom.
I found the books to be tedious, so I won’t see it - but bad review won’t kill a movie. And currently it is getting a 70% from the audience ratings. (Heigl is cute as a button, but I hated her big one - Knocked Up - and I don’t see this being better.)
I like the books (although I’ve only read the first few). I wouldn’t call it literature or anything, but they are funny and nice to read. A friend of mine is a big fan, and she and I went to the movie Friday (opening day). I thought the movie was good; not great, but charming and funny. I think they did a good job with capturing the feel of the books. I think if you’re a fan, you’ll be pleased, certainly. I wished Stephanie was a bit trashier looking with big hair and stuff, more Jersey like, but they did a good job overall. I’d watch it again on cable or something.
For a popcorn flick, it was nice. I hope they make a sequel or two, if only to see more of Grandma Mazur and Lula, they are my favorite characters. They obviously won’t make 18, nor should they, but I think the fanbase could sustain a couple more. Anyway, I liked it alright.
The first few books are pretty good for quick, funny reads. The problem is that after the first few books, Evanovitch constantly has to up the ante, and the books went from pleasantly silly to over-the-top straining for yucks.
I probably won’t see the movie in theaters, but if it happens to be on cable in the future, and I notice it, I’ll probably watch it then.
I forgot this movie even existed until I opened up the thread. I know nothing about the book series (nor do I care to, I have a stack of books so high on my bedside table, it’s getting scary) and I personally can’t stand anything about Katherine Heigl (okay that’s not entire true, I am a red blooded misogynist, so there’s two things I like).
Anyhow, I may see this movie because I do enjoy watching terrible movies. Even better, A.O. Scott actually reviewed this movie so I got to read this gem:
there is also this by David Ehrlich from Boxoffice Magazine:
Good stuff…this movie has contributed to my life and I haven’t even seen the damn thing yet. If you are into this type of thing, check out Rottentomatoes, there are some good ones.
My wife and I saw it last night. We enjoyed it. I like the idea of a sitcom. I’d totally watch that. The premise alone is better than half the crap that gets the green light.
I saw it Friday night because my friend had a Groupon for half price tickets.
I haven’t read anything from the series, so I can’t comment on how it compares to those. As a stand alone movie I thought it was pretty cheesy, cliched, and I wanted to slap Katherine Heigl in the face on numerous occasions.
That said, it was funny in a stupid way, and I was engaged in the film while I was watching it. I’ve seen movies that were so deadly boring that I’ve taken extended bathroom breaks and probably didn’t miss anything. It also made me slightly interested in the books if I can find my library card.
It’ll probably be great on RiffTrax.
ETA: I missed that someone above mentioned the Groupon discount. I had no idea this was the opening weekend! The theater only had 3 or 4 other people in it. That may not have had anything to do with the movie though- Friday night the temperature was in the 60s which is not normal for New York in January, so maybe people were outside doing things.
I hadn’t even heard of this movie nor had my friend, she just asked me if I wanted to see “a Katherine Heigl movie.” I realized what it was when I saw “Stephanie Plum” in the opening graphics (my friend wasn’t familiar with the books).
I’ve read the books, but I probably won’t see the movie right off.
The books are great if you want to mentally loaf for a while, but Evanovich needs to make some decisions. Some of the character issues have gotten old and probably should be resolved. Like this one:
Stephanie really needs to pick one man and stick with him. The competition between Ranger and Morelli is now just silly, and Stephanie’s indecision is, frankly, just immature.
And this one:
The characters haven’t developed much, at least not very much. It would also be nice to have a book that revolves around some of the supporting or minor recurring characters, and not focus on Stephanie.
Or this one:
You don’t need comic relief in a series that is essentially comedic to start with. Lose Grandma Mazur.
It’s not that the books are bad; they’re not. They’re just stale and need to be freshened up a bit. I’m also starting to think that Stephanie is a Mary Sue.
In terms of the movie, it doesn’t surprise me that it wouldn’t be all that great. Katherine Heigl is Meg Ryan without the acting skills; she’s adorable and cutesy-pie and all that, and she does a great damsel-in-distress, but I don’t see her as Stephanie.
Grandma Mazur is the best character. In fact, I’d love to see a book or three in which GM is the main character, and the action focuses on her, instead of Stephanie. However, I have to admit that I haven’t read the latest books, so GM might have become stale.
My daughter got me into reading the books (she likes romcom books), and some years ago, I mentioned my intention of growing up to be just like Grandma Mazur, which actually frightened my daughter, because she knows that I’m perfectly capable of doing it.
I like to read these books when I’m between books, if that makes any sense. I found one at the supermarket that had Diesel as a main character, along with a new female lead from a small town in Mass. It was a lot of fun, and a relief to enjoy Evanovich without Stefanie Plum. I might watch the movie at home for free, and a sitcom would be fun, but I’d never see it in a theater. Do people still see movies in the theater?
:dubious: 1.3 million people went to movie first or second-run theaters in 2011. And that’s not counting revival houses or college showings.
That is interesting. I’ve never liked her but I honestly didn’t know that it was an actually thing.
Interestingly, the movie made 11 million domestically at the box office (which was apparently better than expectations) from a budget of 40 million (the usually math is that they will 80 to break even). If the article is to be believed, she’ll do better overseas which may mean another box office success (marginal). She will have to do A LOT better overseas, however.
I think that was supposed to be 1.3 billion (with a “b”) and that’s domestic US only.
Having read ALL of the Plum books as well as Wicked Appetites (the one with Diesel as the main character) my husband took me to see One for the Money. I was highly disappointed which i was expecting after viewing the movie trailer.
It wasn’t Heigl so much as the screen writers all need to be kicked in the balls then shot!They butchered the details that make the books enjoyable & fun. Not to mention all the crap that they changed for no apparent reason at all:confused:. I could forgive a few things but they went way too far:mad:. I sat there watching in utter disbelief as Stephanie came across as petty & vengeful, her moral compass basically gone.
If they wanted to bring a Janet Evanovich book to the big screen they probably should have started with Metro Girl (an Alexandra Barnaby story) rather than a Stephanie Plum story. I could go on & on (and have to Denis & my family) over my disapointment and all the things wrong with the characters, cars, story line etc.
While i wanted to see what they would do with this series, as a movie I didn’t think it would transfer well, but even saying that, it was worse than I even imagined!:smack:
P.S. Yo, Denis here, the account holder. My wife, the Otter, composed the preceeding. I can attest that the movie did indeed suck balls. The characters were all fucking unlikeable. The writers must be teabagged by drunken goats in order to correct this huge Karmic Injustice. Seriously, Otter just tried to burn out my nose hair with my newly acquired Cheech and Chong lighter in some horribly misguided and badly aimed Vengence. Like, she’s pissed. Seriously. Worse than I was when I saw Starfish, uh, I mean Starship Troopers. Fuck it. I’m getting drunk.