Sunday, August 30, 2015

A Life Less Ordinary

Year of Release: 1997

Director: Danny Boyle

Stars: Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci, Dan Hedaya, Tony Shalhoub, Maury Chaykin, Ian McNeice, Timothy Olyphant, Judith Ivey

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon.

Synopsis:

Following the very well received diptych that was "Shallow Grave" and "Trainspotting", director Danny Boyle released "A Life Less Ordinary" in 1997, his first co-production with American studios (Fox), featuring a cast of well known American actors. The film focuses on the story of Robert Lewis, a young janitor, filled with dreams and ambitions, who gets fired one day and replaced by a robot. Out of sheer frustration, Robert kidnaps the daughter of his boss, Celine, a spoiled heiress who also happens to have a deranged dentist as a fiancee. Celine suggests that Robert asks for a ransom to return her to her father. This sets off a series of events, that also includes a duo of angels intent on making sure that Robert and Celine end up together, but who end up wreaking havoc everywhere.
Danny Boyle's unique flair and vision continued to gain momentum and further relevance with "A Life Less Ordinary", which again featured his typical anti-hero: an every day man who has to overcome obstacles (some truly surreal ones) in order to attain his dreams and ambitions. Robert is a character who progressively comes into his own, as he deals with all the obstacles that are thrown his way, and these hurdles only serve to reinforce what he truly wants and needs. Danny Boyle is a director who always imbues his films with a momentum and rhythm: his stylistic approach also adds an extra layer of interest to the narrative (always featuring a dynamic editing style). In this particular case, he revisits the screwball comedy genre, and twists it around, featuring edgy and hyperbolic violence and sense of humor that also served him so well in "Trainspotting". The cast in this film is uniformly fantastic, with Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Ian Holm and Stanley Tucci also creating unforgettable characters. The cinematography from Brian Tufano and the soundtrack from David Arnold were also top notch. A very good film from a very talented director.