A LIFE LESS ORDINARY (1997) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Danny Boyle Writer: John Hodge Starring: Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Delroy Lindo, Holly Hunter, Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci, Dan Hedaya, Maury Chaykin, Tony Shalhoub, Ian McNeice, Judith Ivey
I so wanted to love this movie. I mean, after adoring both the awesome awesome awesome "Shallow Grave," and the masterpiece "Trainspotting," I was ready to see another absolutely amazing piece of film work by the team of Boyle/MacDonald/Hodge/McGregor. But, sadly, I have to give this a disappointing rating. It kills me to do that to a film which I had hyped up so much, and it's definitely with a kind of tear in my eye that I write this review. Well, maybe I'm overly exaggerating this little melodrama.
Well, as the ads had put it, this was to be a darkly comic twist on the old 30s screwball comedy, which includes such films as "It Happened One Night," "His Girl Friday," and "Bringing Up Baby." Anyone who's seen either of them knows how awesome they are - cleverly written, wonderfully acted, and just plain memorable as hell. After going Hitchcockian with "Shallow Grave," and Kubrickian with "Trainspotting," it seemed that them going Hawks-ian and/or Capra-ian was a clever idea.
And it is. And for a lot of the movie, the twist is great. Here we have the chief screwball element - two completely different people who bicker so much that they eventually fall in love. Take this, mix it with a lot of black comedy, hitmen, graphic violence, and a great style only Boyle can bring us, and sprinkle a bit of Coen on it, and we have what this film is. But this film has so much going on, that it seems to fall apart after awhile.
The plot, which sounds a lot like the plot of that Alicia masterpiece (ahem!) "Excess Baggage," deals with a down-on-his-luck loser/semi-idiot named Robert (the Boyle staple Ewan McGregor) who loses his job, girlfriend, and apartment in the space of 24 hours, and kidnaps the dauther (Cameron Diaz) of his ex-boss (Ian Holm). But the twist is that these two completely different people (Ewan and Cameron, not Ewan and Ian or Cameron and Ian) are bound to fall in love because of the help of two angels (Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter) who are assigned by the grumpy Angel Gabriel (Dan Hedaya, perfectly cast) to unite these two in bliss because God is a little perterbed of the amount of divorces/seperation/general-love-unrest.
Soon, the daughter, Celine, is cooped up in a falling-apart house with her totally inept kidnapper, Robert, who totally forgets to even make the ransom. Soon it seems that Celine, who helped herself get kidnapped, is pretty much running the show, and eventually has become partners with Robert, whether he likes it or not.
Meanwhile, the angels are running around as hired assasins for Ian Holm, trying desperately to get them together, because if they don't, they aren't allowed back in heaven. And soon it seems that they're out for a lot of money to back themselves up if they don't suceed with their job.
On a plus side, this film IS very funny. I mean, I laughed a lot of the time, especially at Robert's inept antics, which are really never tiresome. The William Tell deal is also done very well, ending in a hilarious conclusion, but never used again (which kind of brings to an empty experience, I suppose). The style is great, with lots of the traditonal Boyle film schtuff, like cool camera uses, and a great soundtrack which blends nearly-perfectly with the action going on. The dialogue is very funny, but then what do you expect from John Hodge? The claymation at the end is humorous, and ends the film nicely.
The acting is also excellent. Ewan is one of the best young actors working today, or perhaps one of the best actors in general, and he shows great prospects in comedy. He has a great sense of comedy, and is easily likable and sympathetic. He also has a bit of singing to do, and he sounds mysteriously like Liam Gallagher from Oasis. Also, Cameron is one of the better young actresses, someone who can do big budget flicks like "The Mask" and "My Best Friend's Wedding," and then slip into indie fare, like "The Last Supper." The two of them have great chemistry together, trying to hit the notes that people like Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert hit in flicks like "It Happened One Night."
Also good are the two angels, Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter, and, yeah, they're two of the best actors out today too (this is getting redundant, eh?). In smaller roles, Ian Holm is a cold and funny evil boss/father, Maury Chaykin is a bizarre backwoodsman who befriends the two protagonists, Stanley Tucci is a perfect egotistical dentist (who suffers an accident in one of the first scenes), Dan Hedaya (as I said) is a flawless Gabriel, and Tony Shalhoub is good in the one scene he has where he speaks (and we learn once again the horrible truth that his italian accent is not real).
But. The film has so much, goes in so many directions, and wants to be so much, that it just falls apart. The last half hour or so are muddled, and the humor is never as hysterical as it should be. The karaoke scene should be absolutely mesmerizing, wonderful, and side-splittingly funny, but it's just fractions of all those. The angel subplot, which is a nice idea, is not used to its fullest extent, but ends on a very good note. And the film isn't as greatly plotted as it should be. The plot should be more frantic, and more tightly-plotted, which I suppose is Hodge's fault, but I suppose Boyle had a bit to do with that. And the direction, while being very stylistic, is still too American. In fact, the first scene, which parodies a Quentin movie, isn't as hysterical as it should or could be. This is typical of modern-day romantic comedies, and the only thing saving this is the black comedy, which isn't as good as it should be either.
Anyone who knows me knows that I worship the brilliant ground that the team of Boyle/Hodge/MacDonald/McGregor walk on, but this group has made one slip-up, which is okay. It seems that a director (or team's) early flims involve at least one bad film in the first three or four. While it's usually the second, it can be the third (like Quentin's "Four Rooms," if you count that as a film). Therefore, I think that they will rebound nicely and realize the mistakes they made with this film.
I just want to say that although it's disapointing, I still had a good time. This isn't a bad film at all, just a near-miss. It's quirky, it's funny, it's violent, and it's slightly romantic, but it's never all at once. If they had found a great balance for it, then this would have been a great flick. But, it's not, and therefore the film suffers a bit. But even if it's not a great film, it's at least a good film, and worth a viewing or two.
MY RATING (out of 4): **1/2
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