the audience applauded

Purely Joyful Movie!

Fresh and Exciting

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This movie is special with the fantasy aspects, and I like the relationship between the hostage and kidnapper because it simulates "borrowed time." An aloof courtier with a beautiful woman. A classic tale. The camera work and setting is brilliant as well.

Robert Lewis's life seems to be going nowhere; he loses his janitorial job to a robot, gets dumped by his girlfriend and is evicted from his how; meanwhile Celine Naville is living a pampered life; all paid for by her father; Robert's boss. Under normal circumstances they would never even meet but what follows are not normal circumstances. Two angels, O'Reilly and Jackson, have been sent down from heaven to make sure they get together… by whatever means necessary. Robert and Celine's relationship gets off to an unusual start when he kidnaps her after confronting her father. He is possibly the world's worst kidnapper but luckily she is happy to tell him what to do for part of the ransom as she is not happy with her father's suggestion she should work for him. Her father has no intention of paying though and hires O'Reilly and Jackson, who are posing as bounty hunters, to get Celine back and kill Robert! Of course extreme circumstances start to bring them together; they might still need a push in the right direction though.Anybody who has seen director Danny Boyle's previous films featuring Ewan McGregor may be expecting lots of swearing and violence; there is some but by no means as much as this is a romantic comedy. That doesn't stop Cameron Diaz shooting her suitor in the head while emulating William Tell's famous act or Holly Hunter's O'Reilly getting crushed by a pick-up truck… then carrying on like some angelic terminator. There are plenty of laughs to be had along the way and the cast do a fine job throughout. As well as the two leads Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo are fun in their roles of the two angels and Ian McNeice is very funny playing it dead straight as the Naville's butler/enforcer! The story itself is silly but that is part of the fun. Overall this is a fun film that may be a little too quirky at times but is still worth watching.

I have to admit that for some time now I have been a bit of a fan of the work of Danny Boyle. As such, I'm made it a bit of a mission to take a look at as much of his back catalogue as I can whenever they are shown on TV. So this is how I came to watch this one. I have to say it's not the best film I've seen associated with his name, but it's passable. More of my thoughts after this very brief summary.We start in heaven (where else), where two angels, O'Reilly and Jackson, are given their last chance to, let's say, facilitate a couple falling in love. It's a tough case; two people from very different backgrounds. First there's Robert Lewis who's a cleaner (& a writer in his spare time) who has just lost his job and been dumped by his girlfriend. Then there's Celine Naville a rich socialite whose father wants her to go to work for him. They are thrown together when Robert goes to see Celine's father to demand his job back and things go slightly wrong. He ends up kidnapping Celine and taking her to a cabin in the wilderness. He really doesn't have a clue and Celine ends up taking the lead; deciding she may as well try to get some money out of her father. Meanwhile, O'Reilly and Jackson are hired by Celine's father to find them. As you can see, it's getting a bit complicated already and we're only part-way through! I'll leave it there though or the Spoiler Police (confusing plots division) will have me kidnapped in amusing circumstances (again).A well made film that has the beginnings many of the hallmarks of Boyle's latter works. Some interesting ideas thrown in, some that worked and some that didn't, but then I see it as a bit of a stepping stone for Boyle. Nice performances all round; Ewan McGregor did a decent job as Robert Lewis, although his haircut is pretty bizarre! Cameron Diaz did a great job as Celine; it's the kind of role she's pretty comfortable in. I thought both Holly Hunter as O'Reilly and Delroy Lindo as Jackson were excellent. Honourable mentions must also go to; Ian McNeice as Mayhew, Frank Kanig as Ted, Stanley Tucci as Elliot Zweikel, Tony Shalhoub as Al and Ian Holm as Naville (Celine's father).Although I'm a fan of Danny Boyle's work, I'm afraid this one failed to hit the mark (for me). I found the plot far too over-complicated, almost like they were trying to fit far too many ideas in all at once. To me it would have been much more interesting to see the story from the point of view of O'Reilly and Jackson, but then I guess I'm not a screenwriter (yet). Yes, there were some nice touches, for instance, I loved the song and dance routine in the bar; very funny. Over all though, it's one I'll have to sit on the fence as far as recommendation goes; it's kind of in the middle there somewhere.My score: 5.7/10IMDb Score: 6.3/10 (based on 20,915 votes at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 39/100 (based on 36 reviews counted at the time of going to press). Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 56/100 (based on 52,726 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).

How many times have I said that so and so is the worst picture I have ever viewed? Well, A Life Less Ordinary certainly qualifies.Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter are sent back to earth to help a couple resolve their difficulties. They certainly got more than they bargained for. So did the writers of this inane script as well as the viewers who paid money to see such junk on screen.A young Ewan McGregor loses his job and his gal in one day. Frustrated beyond belief, he soon gets involved with his ex-boss's daughter who is also disillusioned with her father as he threatens her with going to work. The 2 grope their way into romance while fleeing Lindo and Hunter who die numerous times. Trouble is that they can't really die because they're already dead. Such is the same with this terrible film.Everything is so amateurish here. The bank robbery is not exactly what Bonnie and Clyde would have pulled either. Place the reel of this film in the green circular file.