ONE FOR THE MONEY

I'm a Stephanie Plum addict.  I am twenty-two books into her fascinating life as a bumbling Trenton, New Jersey, lingerie salesgirl turned bounty hunter.  And to think it's all because my cyber-friend Mary sent me the first Plum novel years ago, One For the Money.  Since then, I have gotten my hands on every single one of the Plum novels, written by the inimitable Janet Evanovich, and I have the complete set on my book shelves.  No, by the way, I don't lend them out.  Nice try, though.

I am having a semi-poopy day at work and beyond -- then I come home to chill-ax for a while.  Sure, I could be correcting papers.  I could also be beating myself in the forehead with a brick.  The feeling and end result would be the same -- coma.  I decide to check what's on television tonight, not that it really matters; Wicked Tuna is on tonight at nine o'clock, and nothing interferes with the tuna guys.

Imagine my joy when I see that at six o'clock Lifetime channel is showing one of my favorite movies, One For the Money, based on the Plum novel.  I'm not a Katherine Heigl fan, to be completely honest, and she's no Stephanie Plum, but she's passable.  Jason O'Mara, the Irish boy, covers his accent well but still, he's no Joe Morelli, and Daniel Sunjata is handsome enough but cannot fill the shoes of Ranger.  On the other hand, the supporting cast is amazing: Debbie Reynolds, John Leguizamo, Sherri Shepherd, Fisher Stevens...

The dialogue is spot-on, and the set and location shoots totally kick ass.  I only wish the movie had done better so perhaps there'd be another movie, and another...  As for Lifetime, they stop for a commercial right in the middle of the climax of the movie.  Seriously, who does that?  Idiots.  I'm surrounded by amateurs, for chrissakes.

Oh, well.  All's well that ends well, right?  Besides, I have a new Evanovich heroine, a character she and author Lee Goldberg crafted, FBI agent Kate O'Hare, and her con man sidekick Nicholas Fox isn't too shabby himself.  Now, if only they'd make a movie on those books, I could be and would be very happy, indeed.  In the meantime, though, back to watch the rest of the movie.  Go get 'em, Stephanie Plum.