Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
A Life Less Ordinary Would Be Boring, September 10, 2005
"Robert: Right you asshole, I've got your daughter here, and I'm gonna send her back in pieces if... OH! I'm sorry, madam. No, I haven't got your daughter here; I've got someone else's. No, we're not married. Yes, I've read the same thing, it's very hard to find suitable young men these days. Well, I'm sure your daughter's very nice, in principle I've got no objection to meeting her...
Celine hangs up the phone
Robert: What is the problem?"
Robert, Ewen McGregor, has kidnapped Celine, Carmeron Diaz, for ransom, and he really doesn't have a plan. Celine has to prod him along and teach him how to ask for ransom. This is a cosmic entry into the movie of no ordinary man. During the long time awaiting the ransom Celine and Robert hit it off. Celine wants to leave her family and in particular her father, and this is her way out. However, she had not planned on falling for her kidnapper. Celine, takes action and she really is the strong and comedic part of this movie. Their adventures begin anew and some of them are side splittingly (sp) funny. How will they begin their new life? Where is the ransom money and how in Hell do they get rid of Holly Hunter, she just won't die !
There is a scene in the dentist's office that is laugh out loud funny. Your worse nightmare of what a visit to the dentist would be. A dentist with his head wrapped in gauze, the result of a terrible accident, who will fill a cavity without novacaine, becasue after all, "You'll probably pass out from pain anyway!"
And, Elvis Presley singing, "You Were Always On My Mind", is such a romantic touch as Celine and Robert meet. And then "If I Were Your Woman and You Were My Man" while they decide if they are really meant for each other. Absurd and irrational, yes, but then, the entire movie is one for the books!
Recommended. prisrob
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6 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
A script less original, October 9, 2002
As someone who loves off-beat characters and stories (this one is a kind of Almodovar-meets-Demy-meets-Wertmuller's-"Swept Away") I found A Life Less Ordinary to fall into the traps of the very ordinary. We all love stories about the captive who wishes to remain in captivity with the reluctant abductor--blah blah blah, but so many reviewers here have found the story bizarre & unique that I am truly baffled. Although it is beautifully filmed and well-acted, I found myself enjoying the development of the story, yet feeling practically zero suspense.
And, while Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter & Delroy Lindo (and everyone else, really) played their parts with hilarity and sensitivity, Ewan Macgregor only gave us more of his Moulin Rouge personality which to me didn't quite fit this part. He gave Cameron very little to go with in order to fall for him, and the chemistry between them was so questionable that I found much of this movie hard to believe. Yet, I didn't stop watching until the cheesy end, and did enjoy it nonetheless.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Eccentricity...amplified, October 3, 2002
"A Life Less Ordinary" is a zany romp. Ewan McGregor plays Robert Lewis, the hestitant kidnapper who gets himself into the predicament accidentally because he's mad that janitor robots replaced him at a local business and his protest went awry, his "victim" is a controlling spoiled brat Celine Neville (Diaz) the child of his ex-employer, who, having been kidnapped before, contantly criticizes his kidnapping style. But believe it or not, you forget about the kidnapping altogether after half an hour as the two bond with each other. Fact is, the kidnapping kicks off the movie but doesn't need to last because that's not what it's about, though they get themselves into enough legal trouble to last the whole film as a result of it. It's actually a romance about divine intervention. Yes, divine intervention. Apparently, St. Gabriel, who is upset at the lack of true and pure love, sends two agents down (played by Jackson O'Reilly and Holly Hunter in one of her most hilarious roles), to get them together or risk saying adios to pearly gates forever. They get mixed up with the apparently highly crooked Mr. Neville who wants them to kill Robert. Of course they can't do that because that would defy their purpose, on several accounts. Add a few gun fights, lots gunshot wounds, people getting crushed by cars, and some hilarious dialogue and situations and you get the general jist of the film. It doesn't try to make sense, but it does haphazardly in a frenetic, frantic, truly crazy way (though all cinematography stays well on the ground, no flying fairies or can can dancing here, and no, that's not a jab at Moulin Rouge). The film also boasts a slew of great performances from Mcgregor and Diaz (very creative performances if you can imagine such a thing), Stanley Tucci the sleazy dentist ex-fiancee, to Ian Holm and Ian McNiece as the insideous Mr. Neville and his henchman. But the movie's real star, even beating out the couple's Sinatra dance duet in a honky tonk or their high speed racing in dilapitaed pickup trucks, is the script. It's high energy and brilliantly crafted, John Hodge (the writer) and Boyle (director) outdid themselves with such an insane yet workable idea. Great watchable film that is highly undderated. Deserves more praise for being as un-ordinary and chock full of talent as possible.
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