A Life Less Ordinary (Danny Boyle, 1997)

This film is bad. Most of the time it is predictable when it should have been original, repetitive when it should have been inventive, and silly when it should have been quirky. It has its good moments, such as the bank robbery scene; or the in-jokes, like when Robert (Ewan McGregor) is asked to dig his own (shallow) grave; or Ian Holm's over-the-top performance. Nevertheless, these instances are hard to come by resulting in a patchy foray into the romantic comedy genre.

And I love it. Despite its obvious faults I wouldn't change one single frame of it. I remember seeing it at the cinema and falling head over heels in love with it. I laughed loudly at all the jokes, being good or bad, and couldn't have enough of the characters, especially Robert, Celine (Cameron Diaz) and the two angels played by Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter. If my memory doesn't fail me, I've seen it thrice at the cinema, once a week, until its poor run finished.

A Life Less Ordinary is a mystery. There was nothing going for it at the moment: I hadn't liked Trainspotting (1996), and Shallow Grave (1994) was ok but nothing to write home about. Besides Ian Holm, none of the other actors excited me as such. I went to see it literally because I was bored and given the choice at the time, this looked like being the least tedious film. Now, ten years after it was released, it still holds its charm on me, even though I know much of the dialogue by heart. It is an experience akin to following a favourite tv series, where you get to know the characters so well that you'd expect what they're going to say. And still enjoy it.

As I have said already, this film does have its brilliant moments. The bank robbery scene is perfectly executed by everyone concerned. The editing (visual and aural) complements and enhances the rapidly escalating menace, to the point where things seem to be getting out of hand, and culminating in the surreal shoot out. (The surreal moments in this film merit an entry of their own). Cameron Diaz's rendition of the William Tell legend is also stunning.

It is obvious that Boyle enjoyed this movie, and he enjoyed making it. The shots are lovingly staged, in a manner that allows the characters as much breathing space as possible. These are its main assets as, most of the time, the direction is rather anonymous.

Maybe the film's major fault is that the director loved it way too much.

Labels: 1997, boyle, diaz, dvd, hedaya, holm, hunter, lindo, mcgregor, shalhoub, tucci