With my background in history, I sometimes think of creative ways in which I could use such a degree.  One recent idea I came up with is to be a private investigator (PI).  My reasoning was, admittedly, thin.  The key word was “investigator,” which means research.  I did plenty of that while pursuing my doctorate, and I figured that being a PI could help me to continue to bring you Catholic movie reviews since they seem to have a flexible schedule.  As I discovered, one needs a background in law enforcement to become a PI, and I have little stomach for obtaining such experience.  It is that knowledge that gave me my first moment of pause as I watched One for the Money (2012), and you will see why shortly.

“Shortly” also describes the amount of time Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) has at the beginning of One for the Money to get to her parent’s house for dinner.  Her arrival comes at a pivotal time in her life.  In addition to just being fired as a lingerie manager at a Trenton, New Jersey, Macy’s, she is also recently divorced.  These struggles are the excuse she gives her mother, Helen Mazur Plum (Debra Monk), for being five minutes late.  As they are eating, she shares her latest setback, which is punctuated by her car being towed.  Opinions are split on what she should do to rectify the situation.  Helen says she needs a new job, while Stephanie’s grandmother, Edna Mazur (Debbie Reynolds), suggests a husband.  It is Stephanie’s father, Frank Plum (Louis Mustillo), that offers a potential solution to both options.  Stephanie’s cousin, Vinnie Plum (Patrick Fischler), runs a bail bond company, and he is in need of help.  The position she thinks she is going to fill, though, turns out to have been unnecessary.  Yet, since their current enforcement agent, Morty Beyers (Fisher Stevens), is out with an injury, they offer her the opportunity to go after bounties.  The fact that she collects ten percent of the reward means quick, good money for going after men.  However, there is only one man in which she is currently interested: Joseph “Joe” Morelli (Jason O’Mara).  She claims that it is not for romantic interests, but for revenge.  He had ghosted her after taking her virginity, which is wrong not just from a Catholic perspective.  While it comes out that she had gotten back at him by hitting him with her car, it is clear that she is not over him in any manner.  Once she has convinced Vinnie to let her have a run at Joe, Stephanie begins the process of tracking down the police officer.  Joe is wanted for shooting a suspect and then skipping his court date.  To find him, Stephanie steaks out his place, eventually spotting Joe’s cousin, who leads her to Joe.  Following some banter, she thinks she has him all but back in custody until he unleashes his charm on her.  It is enough for him to get away and for her to be embarrassed.  The experience makes her realize, among other things, that she needs a gun.  For help with this, she turns to Ricardo “Ranger” Carlos Manoso (Daniel Sunjata), the most experienced bounty hunter in the area.  In addition to assisting with the purchase of the weapon, he gives her some pointers on firing it and pursuing marks.  With Joe on the run once more, it is time for her to start asking around as to what happened to land Joe in trouble in the first place.  With some information Stephanie obtains from Officer Eddie Gazarra (Nate Mooney), who works for the Trenton Police Department, she learns that the person Joe had shot is heroine dealer Ziggy Kulesza (not pictured).  Further, the incident had happened at an apartment rented by Carmen Sanchez (Alexis Treadwell).  Neither Carmen, nor another suspect at the scene, a man with a flat nose named Louis (Jack Erdie), can be found.  Nevertheless, since Carmen is a lady of the night, Stephanie goes to question other prostitutes in the area.  They point her to Benito Ramirez (Gavin-Keith Umeh), a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter in training who knows Carmen, and his manager, Jimmy Alpha (John Leguizamo).  Jimmy expresses his shock over Carmen’s disappearance, while Benito tries to choke Stephanie in the octagon.  Before any damage can be done, Joe intervenes and takes Stephanie aside to express his displeasure about meddling in his business.  In any case, it demonstrates that she is in over her head as the saying goes.  Since Joe once more takes off, Stephanie is in need of some money, taking in a few bounties while also collecting more insight into Joe’s case.  Before too long, though, Joe comes back asking for help in clearing his name.  In exchange for her assistance, he agrees to allow her to be the one to bring him into custody.  The deal is almost derailed when a healthy Morty shows up at her apartment, stealing her keys in order to keep her from pursuing Joe’s bounty.  Unfortunately, the car, which had belonged to Joe, blows up upon turning the ignition.  The explosion underscores the necessity for action, and Stephanie agrees to wear a wire in order to obtain any pertinent information.  While she is on the main street buying a new shower curtain for the one Joe broke, across the street she spots Louis at the butcher shop.  She follows the delivery truck to a secluded spot along the river outside of town.  Joe eventually catches up with her, and they find Louis and a number of other dead bodies in the back of the truck.  Shortly thereafter, Jimmy appears and conveniently admits to being the person behind all the death and destruction, including moving heroine.  In the ensuing scuffle, Stephanie ends up shooting and killing Jimmy.  She also has Joe handcuffed on the wall of the van, which makes it easier to bring him in.  A few weeks after collecting her share of the bounty, a newly freed Joe appears at her door and the film ends.

In case you are wondering how Joe could be free at the end of One for the Money, it is because Jimmy’s confession is caught on the wire Stephanie is wearing.  Among other things, it is part of what is needed to prove that Joe had acted in self-defense.  Though he had killed someone, it shows that he is not guilty of murder.  I found all this a little confusing, not the least of which is owed to the fact that Stephanie is allowed to walk into a bail bond office one moment, and walk out the next with the authority to track down bounties.  As these proceedings came to a close, though, I knew this one was going to be difficult to discuss from a Catholic perspective.  I had high hopes at the beginning.  When we meet Stephanie’s family, I immediately noticed the statue of the Virgin Mary on their front porch, the fact that they routinely cross themselves, and the presence of plenty of Crucifixes throughout their various abodes.  Nonetheless, these are signs of a sort of cultural Catholicism that is more akin to someone saying they are Irish or Italian-American.  We see these sorts of signs frequently in films, but I often wonder how much it expresses any kind of internal belief.  After all, Stephanie, who also has a Crucifix on the wall of her apartment, talks about losing her virginity at seventeen.  Interestingly, she describes that moment as having ruined her life.  Such a sentiment is undoubtedly dramatic, but there is a kernel of truth to it.  Sexuality is an important topic, and not something to be trifled with at a young age.  The wounds Stephanie’s behavior brought her are unhealed, and they caused her to hit a person with a car.  The good thing is that there is way back for her, and for all of us, is Confession.  I am not speaking of the kind that exonerated Joe of wrongdoing, but that which reconciles one to God.  There is none of this in the movie, which is a miss given its culturally Catholic backdrop.

That backdrop is arguably the best thing about One for the Money.  Though I have never been to Trenton, New Jersey, the stories I have heard seem to match with what you see in the movie.  This is not a reason to watch it, for there is nothing new in it.