A Life Less Ordinary

I LOVED this film. It's a joyous, hilarious romp through the lives of two star-crossed lovers. The theme is original, unpredictable and full of surprises. Even the ending was a surprise to me. Cameron Diaz is an excellent actor as a rich-girl you love one minute and hate the next. Her quirky nature is presented in a credible manner. Iwan McGregor is believable as her fated, working-class lover. They act well together as a couple trying to deny their feelings for one another. Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo are believable as well in their heaven-sent roles. There is violence but it fits into the scenes and is not excessive. You'll even laugh at the villains. Unfortunately, the love scenes are scarce...I would have liked a little more romance! This is a film to view in its' entirety...not in bits and pieces.

By reading the comments here you might get an idea that this is a movie which you "either love or hate". I disagree. Actually I think the truth is quite the opposite - most likely you will be utterly confused by the movie and be very hard pressed to decide whether you liked it or not. There is a rich girl and a dude with quite a bad luck run going on. The guy kidnaps a girl. There are also some angels whose role isn't clear. A lot of confusing things happen and then the movie ends. With a claymation sequence. Perhaps if they threw out the whole "angels" angle it would be better. Perhaps the angels are the only thing saving it from being utter dreck. I don't know. That's the most honest comment I can give - I dunno. Much like the angels in question - it seems that even they are not really sure of what are their plans and motivations. But even if I disregard the whole angels and divine intervention stuff, sure fact is that the plot just zigs and zags and has more dead ends then Ozzy Osbourne's hair. Right when you think the movie goes somewhere, the plot throws another tiring curve-ball right up to the end. Which you probably will not like. Or will "get it" and then write essays about it here on the message boards, but let's not go there, I beg you. For me the biggest complaint is that the movie tries so hard to enter the quite elusive "weird but entertaining" category and constantly fails. It is at times witty, at times trippy, at times baffling but never quite reaches the entertainment level it aims for. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, at times I really felt I'm loving it, but more it went on I couldn't but miss the fact that the creators really didn't have a clue what to do with it or where they wanted it to go. Rewatching further reinforced the fact I had the first time around - the movie's a mess, no matter how much it tried to hide it. To sum up, this movie is at the same time good and amusing as well as utterly confusing, unpolished and tiresome. So in average it is, well, quite average. 5/10

This was a great movie. It had some of the best acting I've seen in a while(especially McGregor). I really liked the soundtrack too. Especially the R.E.M song they played when they were captured. The story goes like this, Robert(McGregor) kidnaps Celine(Diaz) who is the daughter of his former boss who just fired him. Two angels from heaven,(Lindo and Hunter) are sent out on a mission to make the two of them fall in love. It actually seems like Diaz and McGregor do make the perfect couple. I thought it was funny when the whacked out dentist operated on Ewan. His reaction was hilarious. If you want to see a movie that's seems so far from reality, check this one out.

Finally, a romantic comedy that is original, intelligent and truly funny. Not to say unpredictable! Usually I dislike this genre, but i can't help loving this movie. The cast is great, and the chemistry between Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor is sparkling. (And McGregor even manages to look good in spite of a terrible hair cut. What a performance.) Holly Hunter is great as usual. Please also notice the appearance of Maurey Chakin as the somewhat odd neighbor. If you happen to recognize him, it could be from "My Cousin Vinny", where he plays the grit-eating witness. This movie has a smart and entertaining dialog and a number of unforgettable scenes and jokes. And it even brings out the romantic in an old cynic like me.

Film4 are showing a retrospective season of Danny Boyle movies and this was my first chance to catch A LIFE LESS ORDINARY . I had thought previously THE BEACH was the big Boyle flop but that dubious accolade goes to this movie which has a woefully unfunny script which proves that if a film is good it's down to the director but if it's bad it's down to the screenwriter . 28 DAYS LATER is a rather derivative , contrived screenplay lacking in internal logic and Boyle rises far above it to construct a stylish post apocalyptic drama/horror movie . But it's easy to crank up the thrills and chills in a horror movie . With a comedy it's far more difficult because if the jokes aren't funny then the whole movie fails due to this It's not so much the jokes that are a failure , it's the whole screenplay by John Hodge . It's painfully underdeveloped and reminds you of other films that are slightly superior ones like the Charlie Sheen vehicle THE CHASE or infinitely superior ones like A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH . It's impossible to know why Hodge needed to introduce a fantasy element because the two angels could have easily have been mere mortals though perhaps that might have reminded the audience of the highly regarded Coen brothers . Ironically enough you're still reminded of the Coen brothers regardless and what good screenwriters they are . You're also reminded of those Osamond shows with their cheesy , predictable sketches contain painfully obvious punchlines . For example kidnapper and victim go in to phone box , kidnapper phones victim' s father and in a foul mouth rant describes what he's going to do with victim if he doesn't get the ransom , only to finish by saying " Oh sorry I must have dialled the wrong number " . It's not helped McGregor's natural inability to deliver a comic line and if anyone's laughing at this point they must have changed the channel Boyle is on record as saying that the film in hindsight was " A bit too zany " and it's why it led to its relative box office failure but it's failures are down to reasons I've outlined above . Boyle did make his name with the darkly comical SHALLOW GRAVE and TRAINSPOTTING so he probably wanted to let his creative hair down a bit with a broader comedy that would appeal to an American audience . It shows what a great director he is that both A LIFE LESS ORDINARY and THE BEACH were flops and he was destined for obscurity till 28 DAYS LATER came along

I'm a big fan of Cameron Diaz, and Ewan McGregor caught my attention after his riveting performance in Trainspotting. McGregor is the bumbling kidnapper and Diaz is the victim who seems to know more about kidnapping than he does. All this makes for a really funny comic act from the duo as they progress from kidnapper/victim to lovers, with the help of some angels who live in a seemingly hip heaven. The pace of the movie doesn't let up much, and you find yourself immersed totally as you wait for the ending, which, sadly, could have more of a cliffhanger effect than it has now.

With divorce rates increasing, two angels are sent on a mission to bring men and women together as they should be - or not bother coming back to heaven. Their mission is a young man, Robert, who has been replaced as a cleaner by a robot and the spoilt daughter of his boss, Celine. The two meet as Robert bursts into his boss's office to demand his job back and accidentally ends up kidnapping Celine. As they go on the run they gradually grow to hate each other less. Following up Trainspotting was never going to be an easy task - but at least they could have at least got near the quality of that film! In what feels like it wanted to be deliberately quirky, the plot involves angels controlling fate to bring two young people together in love. If it developed this idea in a structured and enjoyable manner then everything would have been fine, however as it is it is all over the place and doesn't really make much in the way of sense. Instead it feels more like a wildly out of control collection of stylish ideas. In terms of narrative it barely hangs together and it creates a problem when it requires us to care for the characters and be part of their romance (as in, care about it). It is very appropriate that the end credits features a cartoon of sorts for that is fitting for the level of development that is in the central tale. The action is silly but not to the point where it gains the imaginative quirkiness of, say, the Coen brothers. Instead it is hard to penetrate the film and get involved with it, the action is daft and illogical, the laughs are rare and the characters are more like cartoon characters than people. It could have worked - but it doesn't. The cast is good on paper, but the lack of material lets them down. McGregor came to fame through Boyle, but he gets done no favours here; he does stand out as someone who tries hard to make the material work, but he can't manage it. Diaz is good as well but again it's the material given to her that is the problem. The support cast is better simply because their lack of character and development isn't a problem; Lindo is good even if Hunter doesn't really fit in; although Holm and Hedaya have OK little cameos. Overall this has energy but it doesn't really hang together in a way that works. It has touches of imagination and style but mostly it drowns in a sea of quirkiness lacking substance. It's a shame that such a talented cast and crew didn't have something better to work with - quirkiness for quirkiness' sake is not enough here.

Years ago I didn't really like this film. I couldn't get into it, but I watched it the other night, needing a Ewan fix, and I loved it!!! It does seem a very strange mess of a movie if you browse thru it or happen to miss a scene while going to the bathroom, but I made myself pause it when I needed to and now I seem to get it!!! Part road trip, part romantic comedy, part wacky comedy, part fantasy, it's all about how the angel Gabriel (Dan Hedaya) is getting pressure from the Big Man Himself to arrange love matches that will actually last. Down on earth, oblivious to what's going on in heaven, a janitor named Robert (Ewan McGregor) has just been fired and replaced by a robot. His ruthless boss (a hysterical Ian Holm) refuses to even act apologetic about replacing hardworking men with mindless robots he doesn't have to pay. His reason completely gone, Robert kidnaps the spoiled princess daughter of his boss, Celine (Cameron Diaz) and hits the road with her, hoping to get his job, some money, or just an apology!!! This is the kind of film which is perfect when you need something very fluffy and fun with no heaviness. There is some violence (one very funny scene involves Delroy Lindo forcing Robert to dig his own grave), but it's so funny and comedic that it's not going to fit in with the regular violence in movies, like in Die Hard or something. It's a very delightful film for anyone who likes Ewan or Cameron. I think they had great chemistry and the whole movie was just pure fun!!!

How many times have I said that so and so is the worst picture I have ever viewed? Well, A Life Less Ordinary certainly qualifies. Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter are sent back to earth to help a couple resolve their difficulties. They certainly got more than they bargained for. So did the writers of this inane script as well as the viewers who paid money to see such junk on screen. A young Ewan McGregor loses his job and his gal in one day. Frustrated beyond belief, he soon gets involved with his ex-boss's daughter who is also disillusioned with her father as he threatens her with going to work. The 2 grope their way into romance while fleeing Lindo and Hunter who die numerous times. Trouble is that they can't really die because they're already dead. Such is the same with this terrible film. Everything is so amateurish here. The bank robbery is not exactly what Bonnie and Clyde would have pulled either. Place the reel of this film in the green circular file.

It seems that with A Life Less Ordinary you either love it or you hate it. Personally I am of the former persuasion, with it being a favourite of mine. I can see were the detractors come from, especially after viewing Boyle & Hodge's previous works. ALLO is in a completely different in style to their previous two films Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. But to say it is the weaker of the three films would be a fallacy. Stylistically the film is excellent - reminding me a lot of a Coen brothers film. The script is spot on and the performances of McGregor and Diaz are both excellent (which surprised me for Diaz) as their does seem to be a real chemistry between the two. A very enjoyable romantic comedy overall, and if an old cynic like me can say that, it must be good.