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In One for the Money, actress Katherine Heigl plays Stephanie Plum, a New Jersey lingerie saleswoman turned skip tracer. From low-cut to low-life. See? That’s funny! As is the bit where her cousin the veteran bail bondsman looks into the barrel of his revolver as Plum lasers him with a Smith & Wesson hammerless snubbie [:40]. And the scene where Plum’s Mom uses her daughter’s Smith to shoot a chicken on the dinner table. Still, “I’m shooting a gun, how hot is that?” could be a catch phrase for our time. Spread the word. And make the jump for the usual Hollywood story of gun-aversive movie star turned gun-lovin’ gal [via straight.com]. . .

“Well, I actually wasn’t all that thrilled that they made us go to a gun range to practice shooting,” she tells the Georgia Straight, on the line from New York. “I thought it was a bit much since we were just pretending to shoot guns and kill people. We didn’t really need to learn in my mind how to be a great shot.”

No kidding. Plus, guns are dangerous, and they don’t pretend. “They put a gun in your hand and do this 30 minute spiel on everything that could possibly go wrong, and I’m thinking, ‘Why am I here doing this?’” continues Heigl. “And then I put the goggles on, point, and aim, and shoot, and I was, like, ‘Oh, this is very satisfying.’ I totally enjoyed it, and I was a pretty good shot. I was totally excited about that.”

30 COMMENTS

  1. Another day in Hollywood. Who are the idiots that write, produce, and direct this crap? Why do people pay to watch this stuff?

    • The movie is an adaptation of a very popular novel by Janet Evanovich. Popular among women, that is. (I.e., you aren’t the target audience, Tom.) It is just the first of eighteen Stephanie Plum novels, so far. Get ready for a lot of this sort of “crap.”

  2. You may not realize it, but that movie is from a VERY successful series of books written by Janet Evanovich. I think she’s up to #18 or 19 right now. I thought the books were primarily aimed at women (and maybe they are), but my wife got me hooked and now I’m reading through the series. Fun books, nothing serious, basic entertainment in a black and white format. Evanovich has an enormous fan base and the movie should do well on that alone.

    As for the portrayal of poor gun handling, Stephanie is a bit of a ditz, and various plot points require her to lose her gun, not have ammo in it, forget where she left it, etc. So the movie is portraying that correctly, apparently. Ranger (the veteran agent) has no excuse, so you can blame that one on Hollywood.

    And some of us may enjoy seeing a good looking woman proclaiming that shooting guns is “hot”. I finally got my wife down to the range last week, so there’s hope yet that I can get her hooked!

  3. That doesn’t look horrible. It looks like the stupid gun bits are played for, well, stupidity. Nobody’s going to want to emulate that. Grandma does not look “cool” while shooting the chicken. And it looks like the character does learn how to shoot, eventually. It’s only going to normalize gun use among women. If this is a popular series of books, it might even help explain the rise in gun sales.

  4. Humor is really lost on the ignorant. I mean really what was the problem with that? You mother hens out there think everything that involves firearms should include a 30min lecture on the 4 rules. Gimme a break,

      • Why not? It was good enough for the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote . . . .

        Movies don’t kill people, people kill people.

    • You I’m gonna have to agree with irock. This movie is clearly meant as a comedy, NOT some serious movie. These are prop guns and no one is in any danger. People need to realize that not every second of life has to be dead serious.

  5. Considering the many, many hoops film armorers go through to practice their trade, it’s a safe bet any weapon used in any film is going to be rendered completely inert before any nonsense commences. Stupid? Yup. Dangerous? Nope.

    I’m reminded of a story from a friend of mine who worked on The Abyss many moons ago. There’s a scene in which an actor dumps a mag from a Mac-10 into a pool. They used live ammo and remote cameras for the effect. You would not believe the setup and quadruple-checks that went into that. I believe that was the last time anything remotely dangerous involving a firearm happened on a film set.

  6. “lingerie saleswoman turned skip tracer”

    Guns are not an accessory or a pleasure toy. I hope guns do not become more of a fashion trend mind-set to own beyond what they already are, to some people in modern society, by those owners who do not take ownership seriously. People who are not mature, accountable, and respectfully aware of a gun’s dangerous potential should not own firearms.

    • Guns have been a fashion accessory from the time that Sam Colt started decorating them and Mississippi riverboat gamblers put pearl handles on their belly guns. George Patton, who was a bit of a dandy, loved him his ivory handled pistol and revolver. And lord help us, how many guns are pink? The mind boggles.

      So guns are going to end up in the hands of people who should not own firearms, not because they’re criminals, but because they’re not up to the task. The problem is that there will be someone out there who thinks that you or I should not own firearms and that only cops and the military should, because we’re not up to the task. That’s the quandary.

      • I’d feel fine having you as a neighbor walking around with your pearl handled pistols holstered on each side of your kilt with your broadsword sheathed over your back. I’m not so sure about the fashion chasing lipstick crowd.

        I hope the quandry doesn’t accidentally drop her purse onto the floor of a coffee shop setting off the non-holstered derringer inside of it resulting in a bullet to your leg (true story: it actually happened).

  7. And what’s REALLY funny is the movie star who put a .44mag loaded with blamks to his head and pulled the trigger! Blowing out what passed for his brains! A laugh a minute! Man, Hollyweird is SOOO good at this whole gun stuff. I mean, who would have even THOUGHT of holding your Glock sideways while you leap though the air? Entire gangs full of druggies are now Stylin’ with Mr. G, holdin’ their pinkies out for the proper cool effect! Hollywood: the best firearms training possible, filmed by idiots for idiots.

  8. “They put a gun in your hand and do this 30 minute spiel on everything that could possibly go wrong, and I’m thinking, ‘Why am I here doing this?’”

    Yeah, I think the same thing every time I get a boring lecture on lethal force. /sarc

  9. I read the book last week and didn’t even realize a movie had been made. I read a lot of books and go to virtually zero movies.

    The book is very enjoyable and funny. I’ll read more from the author and recommend the book if you want some light and enjoyable reading. As for the silly gunhandling…well, after all it is just a piece of fiction. In the book, the Stephanie character (she is just a character, you know) does realize she knows nothing about guns and starts going to a range every afternoon with a police officer instructor and eventually becomes pretty proficient with her S&W .38 Special.

    The trailer does follow along with portions of the book that I recall. And, guys, you gotta love a movie with Debbie Reynolds playing a crazy grandmother.

  10. The book series is very popular and funny. I have a hunch a lot of women will go see the movie and come away with the idea that learning to shoot might be fun. Not because it’s goofy, but because when they actually get on a real range with a real gun, they’ll enjoy the experience. Provided, fingers-crossed-and-God-willing, it’ll be a safely run range.

    You know, a great many people can accurately distinguish between a slapstick-silly movie and real life….

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