A LIFE LESS ORDINARY
RATING: 6 / 10 --> Barely recommendable
Review date:
March 17, 1998
Director:
Danny Boyle
Writer:
John Hodge
Producer:
Andrew MacDonald
Actors:
Ewan McGregor as Robert
Cameron Diaz as Celine
Delroy Lindo as Jackson
Holly Hunter as O'Reilly
Genre:
Comedy/Road movie
Year of
Release:
1997
From the creators of the creepy SHALLOW GRAVE (8/10) and the
great TRAINSPOTTING (8.5/10) movies, comes A LIFE LESS ORDINARY.
This movie is, well, if you don't mind me saying so...a little
less than ordinary.
PLOT:
The plot has Robert getting fired from a corporate heartless
company, kidnapping the daughter (Celine) of said firm almost
involuntarily, hitting the road with the whining spoiled brat,
and being sought after by two "angels" sent down by
Gabriel the Saint, who are supposed to attempt a love connection
between the polar opposite pair.
CRITIQUE:
Nothing special here. The plot line is pretty thin and
unoriginal. The ending is all but given away by the poster of the
film itself. The lame angels, played surprisingly by Delroy Lindo
and Holly Hunter, are annoyances more than anything. Even Danny
Boyle's most original style seems to have taken a back seat here.
And to think that he turned down the fourth installment of the
ALIEN series for this shite.
Overall, I did not care about either of the characters enough to
get into the movie one bit. Some scenes were semi-funny (when
Robert is calling in the ransom request), there's a bit of style
in the first ten minutes or so but then it disappears, the
soundtrack is pretty slick, and the acting is passable, but
overall the movie just didn't have enough originality or drive to
muster any kind of enthusiasm from this big Danny Boyle fan (and
that's saying a lot).
Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part of the movie which takes
place during the closing credits. A claymation rendition of the
couple travelling through their adventures is much more
interesting than anything in this entire picture.
Little Known Facts:
Ewan McGregor has starred in all three of Danny Boyle's feature
films.
John Hodge has written all three of Danny Boyle's feature films.
Andrew McDonald has produced all three of Danny Boyle's feature
films.
Ewan McGregor will play the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel
to the STAR WARS series.
Holly Hunter stands 5"2, and once shared a house (on and
off) with directors Joel Coen and Sam Raimi, writer/producer
Ethan Coen and fellow actresses Frances McDormand and Kathy
Bates.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
Movie Reviews by Berge Garabedian