A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

In the style of wacky runaway heiress or road buddies on the lam films a la Frank Capra, A Life Less Ordinary is a dark comedy that stretches the definition of funny. Director Danny Boyle's previous hits, e.g. Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, were morality tales with wit and style that defined the British cinema of the 90s. ALLO is not up to either wit or style in a rambling odd story of frustrated love. Ewan McGregor, an actor who is lively and dynamic in his two previous Boyle pictures never seems to find his character as Robert, a closet pulp fiction writer/janitor living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Robert's lack of Mr. Clean talent result in a ballistic impulse after he is fired and replaced by a bad R2D2 imitation robotic floor-sweeper. The target of his anger, the bratty daughter of the company owner.

Camerion Diaz as Celine is lovely in the role of a spoiled brat kidnapped by Robert, but the chemistry between the two actors never heats up the screen. Wacky heiress Celine can't sing or dance while the nebbish kidnapper sings and dances rings around her. Charming Robert can't threaten or write a convincing ransom letter, but Celine is such a harpy, her condesending and chrulishness towards Robert fail to exude any audience sympathy. Instead, it transfers to the overwhelmed kidnapper rather than the shrewish Celine.

Adding to the muddled storyline are two bumbling angels (Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo) whose divine task is to assure the mismatched pair fall in love. It is a subplot that distracts rather than adds to the story. If the plot sounded confused it is because Boyle never seemed to make up his mind what the kind of film he wanted to direct.

The stellar cast attempts to save their roles but are handicapped by a screenplay that never quite follows a recognizable genre. The American film debut of director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew MacDonald flounders under so many problems that ALLO is a comedy of errors, misdirection, and ambiguity that failed to entertain.

Fmovies: Danny Boyle became my favorite director after I watched this film. It looks like no matter how simple plot may appear, he still can make a masterpiece of it. The humor is pretty weird and subtle and that is what's good about it. It's really unusual film. It's not like other Danny Boyle's works (Tainspotting or Shallow Grave) but has some similarities. Actually it is even better in it's own way. Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz are probably the best film couple in history of cinema (or at least it seems like it to me right now). Althau some people may not understand this film because it's pretty weird and even may appear banal sometimes but it's not. I think it was in really original way portrayed how two totally different people can fall in love with each other. Personally I think this is the best love story ever told.

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.

A Life Less Ordinary fmovies. 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

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.

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.