One For The Money Parent Guide

Parent Movie Review
by Kerry Bennett

In an effort to fill theater seats, moviemakers often attempt to appeal to the widest possible audience. So combining romantic comedy with a little action is understandable in One for the Money. Unfortunately, the violence gets far too graphic for this light entertainment option when men push a woman out of a truck after severely beating her. Later a character is repeatedly shot in the chest and another dies in a car bomb explosion.

If the plot seems familiar, that’s also understandable. In 2010, Gerard Butler takes on an almost identical role as The Bounty Hunter who is sent to bring in his bail-jumping ex-wife played by Jennifer Aniston. The film tanked with critics and didn’t do much better with the paying public. Sadly Katherine Heigl and Jason O’Mara’s characters in One for the Money may not fare much better.

For one thing, it’s hard to believe someone so naïve and overdressed as Stephanie Plum (Heigl) could ever expect to make it as a “recovery agent.” Sporting high heels, she minces into her cousin’s (Patrick Fischler) bail bond office and asks for a job. Of course the case she is most interested in involves Joe Morelli (O’Mara), a wanted cop who took her virginity on the floor of a bakery when she was 17. While the $50,000 recovery fee is attractive for the financially struggling woman, the thought of meting out revenge for being dumped doesn’t hurt either. But when Stephanie starts to ask too many questions in the seedy neighborhood where Joe hides out, bad things begin to happen to the people who talk.

Sexual tension arises between the hunter and the hunted—or at least that’s what we’re supposed to believe. But what audiences get is a stream of sexually suggestive quips and gags. (One of Stephanie’s other cases involves an old man who refuses to wear clothes, resulting in the unveiling of some saggy male buttocks. Partial female nudity is also exposed when a naked Stephanie is handcuffed to her shower rod by one of the disgruntled individuals she is after.) Profanities also riddle this script, along with crude terms for sexual activities and a couple of rude hand gestures.

In this fish-out-of-water tale swimming with exaggerated characters like a meddling, mildly delusional grandmother (Debbie Reynolds) and a cocksure fellow bounty hunter (Daniel Sunjata), Stephanie’s ineptness is played for comedy—at least until a decomposing body is found. Then this chick flick turns rancid faster than you can say, “Hands up Morelli.”

Directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Starring Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara, Daniel Sunjata. Running time: 91 minutes. Theatrical release January 27, 2012. Updated July 17, 2017

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.

One For The Money
Rating & Content Info

Why is One For The Money rated PG-13? One For The Money is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence, sexual references and language, some drug material and partial nudity.

Violence: The details of a shooting are discussed and portrayed numerous times. A woman buys a gun for work. A man beats another in a boxing cage and then begins to rough up a woman. Characters talk about a woman who was killed for giving information to police. A man pushes a woman up against a wall and threatens her. Shots are fired inside a gym. An elderly woman fires a gun at the dinner table. Characters pick locks to illegally enter a house. A man is hit on the head with a liquor bottle and knocked out. A prostitute is beaten up and thrown from a truck. A car bomb explodes killing someone other than the intended victim. Sounds of shots are heard and later two men are seen with bullet holes in their heads. Characters discover a decomposing body in a barrel. Two men engage in a fistfight. One character is clubbed over the head. Characters are threatened with a gun. A man is blasted with pepper spray. A man is shot repeatedly in the chest (shots are shown on screen). A woman’s home catches fire after a fiery object is thrown inside. Characters discuss the suspicious nature of a drug user’s death.

Sexual Content: Characters repeatedly discuss sexual activity including women losing their virginity to the same man. Several crude terms for sexual activity are used during the discussions. A character asks if a woman is pregnant. Prostitutes wear cleavage-baring clothing. A man makes suggestive comments to a woman on several occasions. Later he asks her to take her shirt off. A woman undresses in front of her bedroom window. A naked painting is seen on the wall. Male buttock nudity is seen and several crude terms for male anatomy are used. A man handcuffs a naked woman to the curtain rod while she is showering. Partial female frontal nudity is seen. A man makes several suggestive comments about a woman’s body.

Language: The script contains dozens of profanities, scatological slang words and terms of Deity. Sexually suggestive dialogue includes crude terms for sexual activity and crass names for male and female anatomy along with two crude hand gestures.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Drug trafficking is discussed on several occasions and characters come upon a drug drop location. Characters drink with dinner. A woman smokes outside a hospital.

Page last updated July 17, 2017