This one dropped a couple days ago, so pardon the tardiness. Anyway, I know nothing about the Stephanie Plum character or the Janet Evanovich novels that this film is adapted from. All I can say is that it's a big clearer why Lionsgate moved this film from its original mid-summer 2011 slot to January 27th, 2011. It's no secret that I'd be all smiles about a female-centric action franchise. But this looks quite terrible, feeling like a rehash of The Bounty Hunter (of course the novel in question was published in 1994) and, most crucially, refusing to take its premise remotely seriously. Again, I can't say if this is faithful to the novels, but why must this female-driven action film be burdened by camp and in fact sell the idea that women cannot be convincing action stars? Before she became a star on Grey's Anatomy, Heigl dabbled in action (macing Everett McGill in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory) and sci-fi tinged adventure (she had a supporting role on Roswell). The basic source of the comedy seems to be "ha ha, look at how incompetent that chick is with traditional action tropes!"). I'm surely giving more thought to this trailer than it deserves, but it really was eye-poppingly bad.
Scott Mendelson
Scott Mendelson
