Tag: John Leguiziamo

VIOLENT NIGHT – Review

Are you wondering about the perfect holiday movie night present for that action-thriller adrenaline fanatic? Oh but those big, loud, shoot-em-up “thrill-rides” aren’t really invading the multiplex for several months. Well, here’s one that “fits the bill” on both counts cause it’s fight-filled yuletide stunt/explosion spectacular. So just who’s the new action hero at its center? None other than that jolly old whiskered icon himself. And he’s got more than a lump o’ coal for those on his naughty list. Yes, it’s a white Christmas splattered with lotsa’ dripping red on this very noisy VIOLENT NIGHT. As you might think, all is not calm.


Although it’s a pretty mellow Christmas Eve in a British pub as a hard-working red-clad temp “bellies” up to the bar. A few pints ahead of him is a slumped-over Santa (David Harbour). He grumbles a bit about today’s kids being so damn greedy before lurching toward the exit. The barmaid realizes he’s headed to the roof access, but by the time she’s at the top of the stairs, her patron is gone. Plus she spies a flying sled pulled by eight reindeer. Could he have been the “real deal”? Cut to Connecticut, USA for a holiday reunion between Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassell) and his wife Linda (Alexis Louder). They want to share the holiday with their precious six-year-old daughter Trudy (Leah Brody) at his mother’s house. Now Grandma Lightstone’s place isn’t a cozy cottage, but a lavish estate with lots of security and hired caterers serving egg nog and such. Jason is first greeted by greedy older sis Alva (Edi Patterson), brat teen son Burt (Alexander Elliott), and her new “trophy” hubby, “B” (maybe “C”) movie action star Morgan (Cam Gigandet). Finally Granny arrives, the foul-mouthed business tycoon Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo). As the bickering begins, Santa magically zips in through the fireplace upstairs. He relishes the cookies handmaid by lil’ Trudy (she believes) but dumps the milk in favor of the “good stuff” at the bar. As he enjoys his treat while seated in a massage chair, he hears…gunshots. It appears that the wait staff is actually an armed group of mercenaries led by (code name) “Mr. Scrooge” (John Leguizamo) who want some “undeclared” cash ($300 mil) in a big secret vault there. Santa tries to leave, but the noise has sent the reindeer skyward. And the magic nose touch that sends him up the chimney is on the fritz. So could the defender of the Lightstone family be the jolly old elf himself?

At the center of the story, and prominently featured in all the marketing, is the glowering, rather than jolly, grin of Harbour (looking forward to his reprising of the Red Guardian in the THUNDERBOLTS MCU flick) as the gift-giver turned butt-kicker. Sure he delivers the snark and cynicism we’d expect, but he also shows his tender side as he tries to comfort the sweet Trudy. Which in turn triggers his brutal “human” days. This is a nice contrast to his sweaty panic as the baddies just seem endless and he must “make do” with what’s at hand. Harbour’s got a worthy adversary in Leguizamo, who “Scrooge” really does despise St. Nick and everything Christmas. He’s hilariously single-minded as he lusts for the green while offering a logical explanation (“wires and pulleys”) for any bit of holiday magic. Louder and Hassell have us rooting for the couple to “patch things” up before the dark forces can squelch the beaming smile of Brady who reflects all the childhood wonder of the yuletide. And there are plenty of laughs provided by Gigandet as a wannabe John McClane, Patterson as the greediest of one-percenters, Elliott as her social media-obsessed spawn, and the delightful D’Angelo (a true Christmas movie icon herself) as one big, bawdy Granny whose heart only melts for her “grand-baby”.

Action movie vet director Tommy Wirkola transfers those sensibilities to this seasonal satire, never scrimping on the gore and bone-crunching combat. Much of the parody comes from the script by Josh Miller and Pat Casey (who penned the SONIC flicks), and it works well for the first third or so. Of course, the opening pub sequence, and home delivery montage, owe much to the BAD SANTA comedies, minus the sexy stuff but double the scatology (those reindeer). Unfortunately by the halfway mark, the film hits the “comedy lull” early, getting too somber with the family dynamic and the “backstory” to the Kringle (a hammer-wielding barbarian). Oh, and there’s the whole use of magic powers, which only “kick on” when needed for an “easy out”. Santa’s whole “I don’t understand ’em” doesn’t really give the filmmakers a “pass”. Then, to “juice up” the sagging second act, a painful riff on HOME ALONE booby traps reeks of dramatic desperation, going for easy “gross-out” gags. This really makes the hug-filled heart-warming finale seem like a cliche from so many cable TV holiday fodder. Seeing the trailer I recalled the great satiric TV promo for “The Day the Reindeer Died” in the superior SCROOGED from over 30 years ago (miss you, Dick Donner). Perhaps this is a nice SNL filmed sketch that can’t really be stretched to feature length. Harbour’s fun, but otherwise it’s a fairly vapid VIOLENT NIGHT. Ho-ho-hum.

2 Out of 4

VIOLENT NIGHT opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, December 2, 2022

THE MENU Trailer Offers Up A Horrific Take On The Dining Experience – Stars Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy

Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy in the film THE MENU. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved

A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

In theaters on November 18, 2022, watch the trailer for THE MENU.

Can anyone say “Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares”? This sinister looking movie looks to be a tasty delight this Fall.

The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Aimee Carrero, Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr, Rob Yang and John Leguizamo.

THE MENU is directed by Mark Mylod (TV’s Entourage, Game of Thrones, Shameless, and Succession), written by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy and produced by Adam McKay and Betsy Koch.

PLAYING WITH FIRE (2019) – Review

Need to drop off the kids at the multiplex while you take care of some pre-Thanksgiving “prep”? Or Christmas shopping (sheez, you perfect planners make us all feel like lazy slackers). Well, it’s still a few weeks until FROZEN 2, that Addams clan is going the way of the bags of “fun-size” candies and cardboard witches, and those ARTIC DOGS are racing across the tundra toward home video (seems to be setting records….all the “worst-ever’ ones). How about a nice PG-rated “family-friendly” slapstick comedy? Most kids love those firefighters and their big trucks (in grade school we’d rush to window upon the siren’s wail), and those big larger than life wrestlers. Mix ’em all up with a lovable sloppy dog and three rowdy, mischievous kids and you’ve got the “kiddie matinee fodder’ entitled PLAYING WITH FIRE. But with that name, is there still a big chance that you’ll get burned?

At the start of the story, we’re dropped right into a wildfire blaze alongside a jammed roadway. Luckily, the “smoke jumpers” of the nearby Redding, CA are there. led by heroic, stoic, chiseled, buff Jake ‘Supe’ Carson (John Cena). As the haze begins to clear, he and his men are whisked away via helicopter. Back at HQ, they watch a news report interview with San Diego Fire Commander Richards (Dennis Haysbert) who says that they need more “jumpers” at his bigger, busier main San Diego branch. Jake is stunned to see that most of his guys do indeed jump at the prospect, rushing out the door leaving a trio of loyal firefighters: pilot/cook Rodrigo (John Leguizamo), silent towering “mountain man” Axe (Tyler Mane), and Jake’s good “right hand”, the excitable Mark (Keegan Michael Key), along with a slobbering Mastiff named Masher (no Dalmations). As Jake ponders applying for the soon-retiring Richards’ position, a call comes in on a cabin on fire. Since there’s a major thunderstorm approaching, the quartet heads out, eventually saving a trio of youngsters: adorable three-year-old Zoey (Finley Rose Slater), adventurous impulsive 12-year-old Will (Christian Convery), and their “in charge” teenage sister Bree (Brianna Hildebrand). Returning to the station, she tells Jake that their folks have gone out on a “date”. And since the big storm has hit (blocking cell phone signals, so no word from the parents), they’ll have to “bunk” with the jumpers (lots of newly empty cots there now). They’ll be picked up in the morning, so how much trouble can they get into? And really, it’s just for one night, right?

The cast struggles to bring some depth to the cartoonish “one-note” characters. Cena, so funny in TRAINWRECK and SISTERS, is basically a humorless, stick up his you-know-what, straight man to be the butt of the hi-jinks of his co-workers and the kids. In the opening sequence, he does a nice bit of spoofing his action leading man looks (and he doffs several too-tight but now soiled T-shirts), but mainly he’s there to get things back in order. Key brings his usual high energy to Mark, but he’s doing a variation of his “hyper-focused’ manic sketch roles, a lackluster follow-up to his superb recent work in DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (stream it now). Leguizamo brings a bit of his motor-mouthed street hustler bravado to Rodrigo, but he can’t make the “call back” bits (nobody wants his Spam-infused recipes) work. Mane is intimidating as Axe, but it’s obvious his surly demeanor will melt away to reveal the ole’ ‘softy’ inside. As for the kids, Slater is an onslaught of adorableness, whose twinking eyes cast a spell on all (human and animal) caught in her gaze. Convery gives us a modern riff on the kid “trying to help” disasters of Dennis the Menace and the Little Rascals. And Hildebrand is a convincing “ring leader’, a protecting mini-matriarch who tries to juggle the responsibilities thrust upon her. It’s great to hear Haysbert’s booming authoritative voice, but he’s given little to do in an extended cameo. Always great, but criminally under-utilized is the gifted comic actress Judy Greer brought in as a brainy love-interest for Jake. She has to engage in some silly slapstick (dunked in a pond and drenched in a rainstorm…within minutes), until the kids play “matchmaker” to the bickering (so they must actually like each other) duo, when, as researcher Dr. Amy, she’s not fretting over her rare frogs. The talented Ms. Greer deserves a better showcase for her skills.

Director Andy Fickman can’t keep the pace light and consistent, making the flick lose any zany pep long before the usual “one hour in comedy lull”. Of course, the lackluster predictable script from Dan Ewen and Matt Lieberman (it really took two) should shoulder most of the blame. Even the standard “fireman” gags just fall flat making us recall how they were done with more style and hilarity more than eighty years ago in the classic 3 Stooges short “False Alarms” (they can’t wring laughs from a “snake-like” firehose). Some make give this a pass saying “well it’s PG, so the kids’ll eat it up” (talk about cinema indigestion). With some many witty, creative films aimed at the family market (the recent ADDAMS FAMILY and the returning toys of last Summer), that casual excuse for sloppiness just can’t cut it, especially when the end product came from three (!) studios: Paramount Players, Nickelodeon, and Walden Media. The only winner of this whole debacle may be actor Joe Manganiello who’s at the top of the “special thanks” list in the final end credits. Way to dodge a bullet, dude (perhaps he was to play Jake or Axe)! Unfortunately, audiences risk a nasty retinal scorching (pass the first aid kit) after watching the dreadful PLAYING WITH FIRE.

.5 Out of 4

SUPER MARIO BROS. Screening at Schlafly Bottleworks July 5th – ‘Strange Brew


“I’ll kill that plumber!”


SUPER MARIO BROS. screens Wednesday, July 5th at 8pm at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143) as part of Webster University’s Award-Winning Strange Brew Film Series. Admission is $5


SUPER MARIO BROS. was one of those movies that received hideous reviews when it came out in 1993, but has developed a cult following thanks to fond memories of all the young boys who saw it when it was new and are now adults. SUPER MARIO BROS. was not based directly on the games, but rather lives in the world of it. It would not have been wise to make a movie with a silent plumber hitting his head off bricks and jumping down green tubes. Sometimes artistic license is necessary.


The Mario Bros. (Bob Hoskins and John Leguiziamo) are still at their respective trades but live in Manhattan and are taken into another dimension known as the Mushroom Kingdom by Princess Daisy (Samantha Mathis) that’s inhabited by creatures evolved from dinosaurs and ruled by an evil lizard king (Dennis Hopper)


I am surprised at just how well SUPER MARIO BROS. has held up (and improved) over the years. The little quirky touches that indicate just how different their world is from ours is great, I love the forceful shove through the police station and the chicken coop jail cells, I love Toad’s song and the fungus, the stomper boots, the crazy old woman, the pumping Boom-Boom Bar where “Love Is A Drug” plays and comes complete with fire displays and psychedelic projections in the background. I love Big Bertha and the spiky edges on everything including the city’s steampunk-like inhabitants, clothing, cushions, doors, walls and even on mundane items such as a box of tissue paper! I love the Goombas despite their awkwardness and the old Fungus King is amazingly slimy and grotesque. Can you imagine if he had been done with CGI? SUPER MARIO BROS. is ripe for rediscovery and you’ll have your chance Wednesday night at Schlafly Bottleworks.

A Facebook Invite for the event can be found HERE

AMERICAN ULTRA – The Review

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So we’re finally in the last stretch of Summer, the slow march to reach the (hopefully) cooler temps just past Labor Day. And along with those Fall breezes will come the more, somber award-worthy films. But there’s still time for a bit of mayhem to squeeze into those final August days. And mayhem seems to be the main purpose of this new release hitting the multiplex. Its main character is on a mission (not for a microchip or some, such macguffin, but to survive along with his gal) and many assassins are mowed down along with even more property damage (they blow up good). But unlike Ethan Hunt or Mad Max, he’s not aware of his “particular set of skills” at the movie’s beginning. Like Clark Kent, is he meek and “mild-mannered”? Well, more like meek and “mellow”, thanks to some tasty herbs. And he’s played by an actor mostly known for his cerebral characters, rather than as muscled men of action. But, be ready for “Really Rough R-rated” violence, “ultra-violence”, you could say, in the appropriately titled AMERICAN ULTRA.

Mike Holland (Jesse Eisenberg) and Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart) are laid back twenty-somethings living in a sleepy Ohio town. He spends his days doodling the comic strip adventures of “Apollo Ape” while manning the register at the “Cash and Carry” convenience store, while she is the receptionist/secretary for a bail bondsman. They spends their evenings enjoying each other along with lots and lots of weed. But Mike wants more and plans to marry his “Feebs” in Hawaii until a last-minute panic attack sends them back to their ramshackle home. Meanwhile at CIA headquarters Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) is tipped off by an anonymous source that her pet project will be terminated. This is confirmed after she confronts fellow agency supervisor Adrian Yates (Topher Grace). Victoria, aided by her “go-to-guy” Petey (Tony Hale), dashes away to stop the “scrub” operation. Back at work, Mike’s night shift is interrupted by the sight of two fellas tinkering with his “beater” car. When he confronts them, they pull out some heavy-firepower artillery. And then something…snaps within Mike. Thus begins a long,desperate night that finds Mike and Phoebe facing insurmountable odds in a fight for their lives.

The usually reserved Eisenberg makes a convincing, if reluctant, deadly whirling dervish. He seems much more comfortable as the love-struck, anxiety-ridden stoner, but then that may be more in line with previous screen roles. After the switch in his brain has been flipped, Mike is in a constant state of confused agitation, not knowing what reflexes will suddenly kick-in. Eisenberg plays it more sweet than snarky especially in scenes opposite his ADVENTURELAND love interest Stewart. As Phoebe, she’s equal parts caregiver (very understanding of Mike’s odd ticks and anxieties), partner (not bad at taking on the baddies), and lover (this has to be the ultimate relationship test). Stewart and Eisenberg really connect with an easy chemistry which allows her to be a bit more natural on-screen than with many previous film partners. And it’s great that she’s not reduced to another “damsel-in-distress” and is allowed to get truly down and dirty with the fellas, at times looking like an extra from THE EVIL DEAD flicks. Speaking of ladies getting to play in the action “sandbox”, hurrah for the casting of Britton, who gets to break away from her usual big screen matriarch roles. She still gets to be concerned and caring, but it’s tempered here with a whip-smart, no-backing-down persona. That ‘spunk” serves her well in the scenes opposite the screaming, spitting Grace whose venomous tirades would cut most folks to ribbons. We can’t wait for this slick-suited weasel to get her “just deserts”. Walton Goggins shows up as the most deranged and sadistic of all the “hench-persons”, the gleeful “Laugher”, while Hale scores many laughs as Britton’s frantic, frightened “pencil-pushing” partner back at HQ. But the film’s loudest guffaws come from John Leguizamo as Mike’s motor-mouthed, street-slang slinging dealer/pal “Rose”. He just destroys every scene with his scatter-shot, energetic delivery. He’s quite the MVP of this flick.

The script by Max Landis (CHRONICLE) throws elements of THE MATRIX, KICK-ASS, SUPER, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and the Jason Bourne flicks into a blender, and mixes up a cocktail that’s often sweet, but usually tart to the point of sour. The Mike/Phoebe romance is nearly drowned in a sea of gore and gunplay. As in the recent thriller THE EQUALIZER, Mike is adept at using everyday objects as weapons which lead, of course, to a big, bloody showdown in, of course, a big box store (“Clean-up in hardware aisle 7”). After the “found-footage” party hi-jinks of PROJECT X, director Nima Nourizadeh shows that he can keep the hits, and destruction, coming, but the film, after a promising first act, just seems to lurch from one blood-splattered set-piece to the next with the character development lost among the rapidly growing body count. The audience is finally numbed as we wait until things finally quiet down. Hey the ghouls in ZOMBIELAND got off easy compared to the creeps that Eisenberg dispatches here. There may be a way to make stoner/sleeper agents entertaining, but AMERICAN ULTRA bogarts the bloody bullet-filled blunt and ends up being a nasty bad trip, man.

2.5 Out of 5

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CHEF – The Review

chef

This new release about a highly successful artist returning to his more modest roots in order to re-ignite his passion for his craft could not only apply to the main title character, but to the man who plays him on-screen (who’s also the screenwriter, co-producer, and director). Over the past 20 years Jon Favreau’s had quite an interesting Hollywood career. The then struggling young actor channeled his career frustrations (and the night life exploits of his posse’) into a screenplay that became the low-budget indie hit of 1996 SWINGERS. From there he called the shots behind the camera on the equally independent MADE and soon graduated to bigger studio fare, the holiday-themed smash ELF and the kiddie SF tale ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE. Then came the man in gold and red. Favreau helmed the initial entry from Marvel Studios, IRON MAN and its sequel, which were box office behemoths. But his next studio foray, COWBOYS & ALIENS, sent his film making career crashing back to Earth. Now Favreau is back, after a few acting gigs, with a small character study that may connect with audiences more than wranglers ropin’ flying saucers. Just a word of warning: grab a bite to eat before you hit the theatre!

The chef of the film’s title is Carl Casper (Favreau), former culinary golden boy of Miami Beach, now running the kitchen of a trendy eatery in LA’s classy Brentwood area. When we meet Carl, he’s trying to ready his staff, overseen by his right hand men Martin (John Legizamo) and Tony (Bobby Cannavale) and hostess/girlfriend Molly (Scarlett Johannson), for a visit from restaurant critic/blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) all while juggling some quality time with his ten year-old son Percy (Emjay Anthony) who lives with Carl’s ex-wife, business whiz Inez (Sofia Vergara). As the Dinner hour nears, Carl’s boss Riva (Dustin Hoffman) will not allow him to change the menu. That night Ramsey blasts the restaurant, particularly Carl, for playing it safe by serving the same items from a previous visit. With the help of Percy, Carl gets into an online war with the critic and sets up another re-do Dinner. But when the restaurant fills up, thanks to the internet chatter, Riva insists on the exact same entrees. Carl quits and later verbally assaults Ramsey (as all the patrons’ cellular devices record away). Luckily Inez has a plan: Carl will accompany her on a business trip to Miami as a nanny for Percy. The old haunts energize Carl, and with the help of Inez and another ex-hubby, he decides to put together a food truck, with the help of his young son and Martin. The three soon embark on a road trip adventure that will take them back to the West Coast as Carl’s career takes a new, exciting, risky turn.

For the last decade or so Favreau has been acting in supporting roles as he began concentrating on his behind the camera work. Here he’s back front and center as the lead and he displays much of the everyman, “working average Joe” charm he projected in SWINGERS and MADE that prodded audiences to root for his character. Carl’s a mellow, good guy who also has an artist’s passion as seen in the big verbal smack-down with his critical nemesis. . But the big bear of a man has a true tender side particularly in his scenes with his boy. Emjay Anthony is a sleepy-eyed mop-topped charmer who embodies a son at that short period right before the rebellious teen years. He wants to contact with Dad more than anything, although he’s still got a bit of the brat in him as when he becomes frustrated at cleaning the filthy food truck. Legizamo takes on the role of motor-mouthed wiseguy sidekick that Vince Vaughn assumed in those early films. He’ll bust your chops, but you couldn’t ask for a better guy beside you on the food line. Throw in the delightful Cannavale and the film has a great kitchen comedy trifecta. Just a few weeks ago FADING GIGOLO showed us the subdued side of the voluptuous Ms. Vergara and here we get to see a bit more, along with a ton of tenderness. Has there ever been a movie ex-wife as caring and encouraging as her Inez? There’s no bitterness or spite as she knows that her son should really get time with his Pop. We can’t help wonder what may have split them up in the recent past. Platt and Johansson has great moments on screen, as does Hoffman as the older, but not wiser, money man who will not budge from the tried and true. But the big scene stealer is Robert Downey, Jr. as Inez’s first husband Marvin who sets Carl up with the dirty, dilapidated mobile eatery. The sequence of Carl conversing with Marv in his too-plush office (shoe baggies, please!) may be the movie’s highlight. How about a buddy road-trip with those fellas?

Actually that might offer up many more laughs than the trip that comprises the film’s third act. It’s in these travelogue-like sequences (Nola! Austin!) when the film stumbles and becomes a tad repetitive. They arrive, take in some local color, cook for long lines of appreciative diners, count the cash, and relax to some local musicians. But this doesn’t take away from the entertaining first two acts. The restaurant politics and hierarchy is compelling and very funny as all scurry about like nervy thespians about to perform a new play (well, in a way…). The story crashes into a few comic clichés concerning technology and social media. Daddy Carl bumbles and stumbles on the internet while his boy is almost a computer savant with a mastery of all software and web graphics (showing outgoing tweets as animated bluebirds is a bit cutesy). This won’t matter to diehard “foodies” out there because this film is some mighty tasty “food porn” ranking right up there with BIG NIGHT and DINNER RUSH. At times you’ll wish you could reach up to the screen and yank off a tender morsel of the delicacies (3D would make it too tempting). Carl’s not an eloquent man, but he enjoys expressing his affection by using his culinary skills whether it’s whipping up some late night pasta for Molly or toasting an impossibly delicious grilled cheese sandwich for Percy’s lunch (yeah, it’s just a grilled cheese, but it’ll make your mouth water!). Favreau has proved himself adept at blockbusters, but he’s not lost his touch with smaller, more personal stories. Like Carl, he’s proven that he doesn’t need the fancy bells and whistles (like a trendy LA bistro), he just needs the basics, with a touch of heat and spice. Overall CHEF is a pretty solid satisfying movie meal. Now, I wonder what’s in the fridge…

3.5 Out of 5

 

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ONE FOR THE MONEY New Clip

There is a new clip for ONE FOR THE MONEY, the new film based on the popular novel by Janet Evanovich which hits theaters next Friday, January 27, 2012… and WAMG has it for you!

SYNOPSIS:  Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling eighteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s ONE FOR THE MONEY.

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 realizes 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.

Starring Katherine Heigl, ONE FOR THE MONEY is a fresh, funny action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson and also starring Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk.  Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment present a Lakeshore Entertainment Lionsgate Wendy Finerman production in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Abishag Productions. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson.  Screenplay by Stacy Sherman & Karen Ray and Liz Brixius.  Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich.

Like ONE FOR THE MONEY on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oneforthemoneymovie?sk=info 

Website: http://oneforthemoneyfilm.com/

ONE FOR THE MONEY hits theaters January 27th

ONE FOR THE MONEY Poster Features Katherine Heigl As Stephanie Plum

ONE FOR THE MONEY, based on the massively popular novel by Janet Evanovich, will be in theaters everywhere January 27th, 2012! Get a first look at Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum in the first official poster.

Katherine Heigl stars as Stephanie Plum, Jersey girl turned recovery agent, in the fun action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The film also stars Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk.

SYNOPSIS:

Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling sixteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s ONE FOR THE MONEY.

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 realizes 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.

Starring Katherine Heigl, ONE FOR THE MONEY is a fresh, funny action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson and also starring Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk. Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment present a Lakeshore Entertainment Lionsgate Wendy Finerman production in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Abishag Productions. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Screenplay by Stacy Sherman & Karen Ray and Liz Brixius. Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich.

Follow Lionsgate on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/lionsgatemovies