A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

Average rating

(64%)

Starring:	Ewan McGregor \| Cameron Diaz \| Holly Hunter \| Delroy Lindo \| Ian Holm \| Maury Chaykin \| Dan Hedaya \| Judith Ivey \| Stanley Tucci \| Mel Winkler \| Ian McNeice \| Tony Shalhoub \| Timothy Olyphant \| Kitty Brunson \| Toni Lynn Byrd \| Jayceen Craven \| Ann Cullimo
Director:	Danny Boyle
Studio:	UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK
Run time:	103 mins
Genres:	Comedy \| Romance
Languages:	English
Dubbed:	German
Hearing-impaired:	English
Subtitles:	English, German
Released:	October 01, 1999
Also available on:

Petulant, rich honeypie Celine and scruffily adorable janitor Robert find themselves on the road to romance after he kidnaps her to avenge his termination at the hands of her callous father. But what they don't realize is that their love is celestially predetermined, as a pair of gun-toting angels gives chase to force the issue. A quixotic and inconsistent Hollywood debut from the production team of director Boyle, writer John Hodge, and producer Andrew MacDonald ("Shallow Grave" and "Trainspotting").

Rating of 2 stars out of 5

This must count as third time unlucky for the production team behind British mega-hits Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. Desperate to regain his menial job in a giant American corporation, Ewan McGregor kidnaps his former boss's daughter, rich bitch Cameron Diaz. As the two go on the run, a pair of angels (miscast Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo) embark on a quest to make the unlikely duo fall in love. This fantasy-tinged romantic road movie comes unstuck as the feel-good factor is cranked up. McGregor and Diaz may be on fine form, but this will undoubtedly be a letdown for fans of director Danny Boyle.

Rating of 1 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide

A surreal romantic comedy where fantasy and reality fail to cohere into a satisfactory whole.

Highest rated reviews

5 out of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4 stars

Annie#12 from IBSTOCK, 13th July, 2004

Ewan McGregor is perfect as Robert, the janitor about to be replaced by a robot who kidnaps the boss' daughter (Diaz) to make a stand about it - only he doesn't really know what to do once he's got her, so she has to run the whole event. Along with that, the Angels are trying to make life on earth a more loving place when they decide these two are destined to be together and their mission is to make them fall in love - which goes as smoothly as you would expect...
While quite mad in places, and with one of the silliest stories, the film is a good, lighthearted bit of fun. Not what you would expect as the follow-up to Boyles 'Shallow Grave' and 'Trainspotting', that's for sure! The script isn't the best, but is quite witty in places. Fantastic soundtrack (you gotta love Ewan doing Oasis! But, yes, I mean the proper soundtrack) and a lovely claymation ending.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3 stars
Non sense

simonfunhouse from Glasgow/ Scotland, 4th April, 2005

Hello Again,

I just read a rubbish review from one of your viewers, about A Life Less Ordinary.
I know everyone is entitles to there own opinions so what is nonsense for one person may no be for another. I urge you not to be put off by 1 negative comment. I have seen worse films !
My advice
If you enjoy watching Ewan Mgregor (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave) and Cameron Diaz (Charles angles, The Mask and Very Bad Things)
then you will enjoy watching these actors act their socks off, I thought they worked well together. They story line may be reference to a "Trashy Novel" but this film is a fun piece of escapism and definitely, one to watch.

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