A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

A Life Less Ordinary is a surprising disappointment, considering it is the third film from director Danny Boyle, writer John Hodge, and actor Ewan McGregor. This disjointed and strained romantic comedy is not even near the same league as Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. Cameron Diaz is a spoiled heiress and McGregor an aimless janitor brought together by two angels (Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo) hoping to hang onto their wings. McGregor kidnaps Diaz, the boss's daughter, after being fired from his crummy job. She is not all that averse to being snatched. Most of the laughs are lost to a scattershot story that feels preposterous instead of magical. --Rochelle O'Gorman Amazon.com

"Kidnapping For Beginners", Chapter One. Have you even asked for a ransom yet?

1997's oddball romantic comedy A Life Less Ordinary, stars the adorable Ewan McGregor as Robert who's just been fired from his terrible job and absentmindedly kidnapped his ex boss' beautiful daughter Celine(Cameron Diaz).

Of course, they don't know that fate has decided they must fall in love and they have two 'guardian angels' (Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo) there to make it certain that they will fall for each other.

Overall a creative twist on the romantic comedy genre, backed by numerous, humorous quips by McGregor and fantastic scenes with Hunter and Lindo. The pace is a little slow, sometimes falling short, but I personally enjoyed every bit.

Not to mention anything that includes a little singing by McGregor isn't hard to sit through at all. November 23, 2008

Very pleased

Was very pleased with my purchase. All was handled in a timely manner and my dvd came to me in good condition. I will purchase from this seller again with no hesitation. Randy September 23, 2008

The Daughter of Marilyn Monroe and John Kennedy ...

Some things hold over time, while others do not. In the case of A Life Less Ordinary, I had hoped it would be the more optimistic of the two. While ten years have passed since I sat in the darkened movie theatre at the Beverly Center and watched this, a multitude of things have changed; and yes, I can safely say that my life has probably become more ordinary than less ordinary - so please take what I say with an objective ear, or eye ...

For Instance:

In the film Gasoline is only $1.39, now it's close to $4 a gallon.
In the film the Heroine is still moved by poetry, while women of today are not. You would probably be laughed at if you wrote a poem for most women, which is a shame to say the least.
In the film, the black bar presentation used to be a standard, now it's just an annoyance.
In the film, an obscure, but hip soundtrack was almost a new idea, now it's just a played out and an overused idea that ended when every TV show now features a pop-song or two.
In the film, you're subjected to what's known as the encore ending, which just keeps on going - now no studio would tolerate it.
In the film, the 103 minute runtime feels like 130 minutes.
In the film, a Wallace & Gromit style ending was unnecessary, these days they make entire films like that.


Overall, this film is pretty forgettable and most people have already done just that. Some people have seen it, a few vaguely remember it but honestly most have never heard of it. My experiences with this film are purely personal but mostly having to do with who I went with, rather than the movie itself. I can imagine that it's this way for most people as well. At best, this was just a fleeting failure of a date movie made in the early days of Danny Boyle, who would later dream up the greatest zombie flick ever made, 28 Days Later.

I was bored to tears in several places during this movie, which wasn't what I remembered but that's just the cruel irony of fate. The story seems to have elements of themes that were typical of the times, much like pictures from the great depression had themes of the everyman overcoming insurmountable odds. This film has the down and out young man, mopping diner floors like in Untamed Heart, the kidnapping plot from The Big Hit and of course the William S. Burroughs true story of "William Tell with a .454 Casul" thread that seemed to be so pervasive everywhere just before Burrough's much timely demise during that same year.

A dark time for romantic drama, or noir dramatic comedy or even ensemble picture, take your pick. From Maury Chaukin, who not only delivers the best one liner in the movie (I watch mostly the biblical channels), but did the same in Dances with Wolves (I've peed my pants and there's nothing you can do about it) ... to Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter as rogue angels, on a mission from God and Gabriel, who almost together steal this entire movie, with a sub-plot that is vastly more interesting than the main plot.

So, with all the faults and lack of a developed story and riding on the successes of Trainspotting, this film will probably forever be delegated to the $5 bin at Walmaze or entirely forgotten.

Strangely, the one thing that was ahead of it's time in this -- was Ewan's idea for a pulp novel, which was rightly seen as "predictable". The story of an illegitimate daughter between Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy would be just the thing that Studio's would stupidly try to produce these days and think that it's cool and/or marketable.

March 3, 2008

DANNY BOYLE, OPUS 3

***1/2 1997. Directed by Danny Boyle. A love story between an unsuccessful writer and a wealthy heiress. This black comedy isn't the best movie (for that, check The Beach or Shallow Grave) so far of the British director but it deserves some attention. Superb dance scene between Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. January 26, 2008

DVD

What can one say about this movie? It's a comedy mixed with a bit of tragedy, and includes many familiar actors, who may not have been as popular when they made this film as they are today, namely Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo and Dan Hedaya (Carla's estranged husband from the TV show "Cheers"). Then there is the always hot Ewan MacGregor and the even hotter Cameron Diaz. Ewan's character is a bumbling idealist who inadvertently kidnaps Cameron's character, who plays a spoiled rich girl who has been kidnapped before, and knows the ropes. Holly and Delroy play marvelous "angels / messengers" sent to earth to make sure this young couple find each other and fall in love. It's a silly, sometimes violent, but unique premise that ends happily for all. January 22, 2008

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