One for the Money

What it's about:

A proud born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum's got plenty of attitude, even if she's been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector.

Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company – as a recovery agent. True, she doesn't even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn't stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny's biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli - yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school. Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback - and a hefty payday - but, as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger, a hunky colleague who's the best in the business, she also realises that the case against Morelli isn't airtight.

Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself. Well, suddenly Stephanie's new job isn't nearly as easy as she thought it would be.

What the critics thought:

"Janet Evanovich's best-selling Stephanie Plum series deserved better than this woefully executed, stillborn attempt at a franchise."
- Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter


"Didn't Jennifer Aniston already do a bounty hunter movie? Talk about sloppy seconds."
- Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service


"Imagine an Elmore Leonard movie scripted by a bad Nora Ephron imitator, and you'll have an idea of how dead-in-the-Jersey-water it is."
- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly


"Katherine Heigl and Jason O'Mara snipe at each other with the sizzling chemistry of two people who can't wait to whip out their BlackBerries and check their email as soon as a take is over."
- Alison Willmore, Movieline