A LIFE LESS ORDINARY
RATING: *** (out of ****)
20th Century Fox / 1:43 / 1997 / R (language, violence, sexual material) Cast: Ewan McGregor; Cameron Diaz; Holly Hunter; Delroy Lindo; Ian Holm; Stanley Tucci; Maury Chaykin; Ian McNeice; Dan Hedaya Director: Danny Boyle Screenwriter: John Hodge
The opening scene of "A Life Less Ordinary," the new comedy from the creative team behind "Trainspotting" and "Shallow Grave," takes place in heaven, and although eventually messy plotting in the last half-hour almost sends the film to script hell, it's still quite an enjoyable, fast-paced romp. Sturdy acting, splendid visuals and warped originality amount to much in the long run and act as a steering wheel to jerk the movie back on track whenever it veers off course -- which is more often than you'd think.
The film's afore-mentioned kickoff finds bumbling celestial cops O'Reilly (Holly Hunter, who's never looked more luminous) and Jackson (Delroy Lindo) receiving an ultimatum from Chief of Police Garbiel (Dan Hedaya), who is under pressure from God to "unite men and women" -- they must successfully play matchmaker for a pair of humans, or spend the rest of their existence walking on earth. But uniting target couple Celine (Cameron Diaz) and Robert (Ewan McGregor) isn't as easy a task as it sounds -- she's a pampered heiress who passes the time by shooting apples off the top of the hired help's heads, he's a janitor for her wealthy businessman dad (Ian Holm) who dreams of writing the "great American trash novel."
Their lives collide right away -- when Robert loses both his job and his apartment, he storms into the office of his boss, who happens to be in the midst of scolding Celine for a recent pistol and fruit-related accident. Operating on impulse, Robert takes Celine hostage, but her general willingness and lack of resistance throws him off. She dislikes her father just enough to work with Robert on a kidnapping scheme -- they'll hit him up for a hefty ransom for her safe return, then take the money and run. O'Reilly and Jackson trail Robert and Celine the whole way, staging wild tricks that give them little choice but to fall in love.
Less is certainly not more in "Ordinary"'s case. It takes pride in its overabundances, and for the most part, so do we. The characters are quirky, the story is interesting and the movie's funky visuals are not to be denied. Considering the cheeky material that's being performed, it's a blessing that "A Life Less Ordinary" never sprouts an overtly serious edge, even when the first hour's fascinating execution is traded in for a send-off that grows progressively non-sensical, including a corny bit of Divine Intervention and a Claymation ending sequence (go ahead -- scratch your heads with me). But even when the movie begins to fall apart, it's still pretty much a blast to watch.
The setup is almost exactly similar to August's awful Alicia Silverstone vehicle "Excess Baggage," but "A Life Less Ordinary" livens up the convoluted territory with some really inventive (if flawed) material. For example, take the plight of the angels. Conceptually, they're a great idea, and Hunter steals the picture with her twitchy mannerisms and oft-changing accents. But screenwriter John Hodge limits their imagination by placing them in too-absurd situations. Why do they masquerade as bounty hunters for Celine's dad? And why, if they're supposed to be getting the pair together, are they constantly endangering their lives? These questions are never answered, but they make for some clever scenes (it's a funny running gag how violently Hunter's O'Reilly is knocked around).
"A Life Less Ordinary" doesn't fully realize its potential (a slightly angering flaw), but there is still enough solid material to keep you entertained and enchanted. McGregor and Diaz exhibit a strong chemistry; their sequences together -- one where she trains him on how to make a ransom call and another where they perform a surreal, rollicking karaoke version of "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" -- rank as the movie's brightest. And director Danny Boyle keeps things spinning with "Trainspotting"-like camera angles and even a subtle reference to McGregor's upcoming role as Ben Kenobi in George Lucas' new "Star Wars" trilogy. "A Life Less Ordinary" isn't ordinary in the least, and it proves that that's not necessarily a bad thing.
© 1997 Jamie Peck E-mail: jpeck1@gl.umbc.edu Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1/
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