A Life Less Ordinary
Encyclopedia
A Life Less Ordinary is a 1997 British black comedy film directed by Danny Boyle
, written by John Hodge. It stars Ewan McGregor
, Cameron Diaz
, Holly Hunter
, and Delroy Lindo
.
(which resembles a modern police headquarters), angel
s are tasked with ensuring that humans on Earth find love. The "Captain", Gabriel (Dan Hedaya
), is upset at reviewing the file of angel partners O'Reilly (Hunter) and Jackson (Lindo), all of whose recent cases have ended in divorce
or misery. Gabriel is being pressed for results, so he introduces a radical new incentive: if their latest case isn't "cracked" - meaning, if the pair in question do not fall, and stay, in love, O'Reilly and Jackson must stay on Earth forever, not appealing to them. They open their case file, and see what is in store for them...
Celine Naville (Diaz) is the spoiled twenty-something daughter of a wealthy businessman. When one of her suitors, a loathsome dentist named Elliott (Stanley Tucci
), proposes marriage to her, she offers to say yes, but only if he agrees to play "William Tell
" with an apple on his head. As she takes aim with a pistol, Elliot's nerves fail and he moves to stop her, spoiling her aim and causing a non-fatal head wound.
Robert Lewis (McGregor) is a janitor
employed in the basement of Celine's father's company. His dreams for writing a best-selling trash novel are shot down by his coworkers, he is told that he is being made redundant and replaced by a robot, by his manager. Whilst drowning his sorrows at a local bar, his girlfriend, Lily (K.K. Dodds) tells him she is leaving him for an aerobics instructor.
O'Reilly and Jackson start their process by posing as collection agents repossessing all of Robert's things and evicting him from his apartment. Deciding this is the last straw, Robert storms to the high-rise office of Mr. Naville (Ian Holm
) while Naville is berating Celine for the William Tell fiasco. Security guards run in and start to beat Robert to a pulp, but Robert grabs one of their guns and holds them at bay (accidentally shooting Naville in the thigh). When Celine introduces herself, Robert decides to kidnap her.
He drives her to a remote cabin in the California
woods. Soon, it becomes clear that Celine is the one in control: after easily slipping free after he has tied her up, she surprises him by sticking around. Robert comes to realize that she is so bored with her normal life, and hates her father so much, that she is staying with the adventure, and the chance to get back at Naville. Eventually, she proposes that they partner up to extort a huge ransom.
O'Reilly and Jackson, now posing as bounty hunters, hire themselves to Naville to retrieve Celine and kill Robert.
After Robert's first attempt to collect the ransom fails (when O'Reilly opens fire on him with a machine gun), he feels downcast, but Celine encourages him that he got away. Feeling cheered up, he takes her out to a rustic bar, where they pretend to be newlyweds, and sing "Beyond the Sea
" on the karaoke
machine. The next morning, Robert wakes up and is stunned to see that he and Celine have apparently slept together.
Robert makes a second demand for the ransom, with a letter written in Celine's blood. Naville gives O'Reilly and Jackson the money, and they go to meet Robert in the forest. To their disappointment, Robert appears willing to let Celine go in exchange for the money before O'Reilly stops his getaway. Aside, Jackson confesses his fears that the two are not in love yet. O'Reilly responds, "Jeopardy, Jackson. Always works."
While O'Reilly and Celine wait by their car, Jackson takes Robert into the woods to execute him. Before he can, Celine decks O'Reilly, runs into the woods, and knocks Jackson out with a shovel. As Robert and Celine drive away, O'Reilly grabs the towbar and rides along. As she points her gun, Robert and Celine jump from the car, and it careens off a cliff, with the money still inside.
Since they are short of money, Celine decides to rob a bank with Jackson's pistol. The robbery goes smoothly, until a security guard shoots at Celine. Robert pushes her out of the way, taking a bullet in the thigh. Celine hurriedly drives him back to the city, to be operated on by Elliot (the closest thing she can find to a discreet medical specialist). A little later, when Robert regains consciousness, he is appalled to see Celine playing a sleazy sexual roleplaying game with Elliott. A fight breaks out, and Robert knocks Elliott unconscious. As they drive away, Celine explains that she only agreed to Elliott's request so he would help Robert - and, in any case, it's none of Robert's business, since he and Celine aren't "involved," whatever he might think. Hurt, Robert gets out of the car and walks away.
To get them back together, Jackson writes a love poem in Robert's handwriting and sends it to Celine. Overcome, she runs back to the bar, where Robert has started working as a janitor, and says he has won her heart with the poem. O'Reilly and Jackson, listening, dance for joy... until Robert says that he's never written a poem in his life. Humiliated, Celine runs out again. But after she's gone, Robert's boss, Al (Tony Shalhoub
), knocks some sense into him: Robert has nothing in his life except the improbable love of "an intelligent, passionate, beautiful, rich woman... so why are you even thinking about it?" Robert runs after Celine, but is too late: O'Reilly and Jackson, believing they have failed, decide to make their Earth-bound lives bearable by kidnapping Celine for ransom.
Robert tracks Celine to their hideout, where she's being held, blind folded and gagged. Robert knocks O'Reilly down with a punch. As he struggles with Jackson, he tells Celine that he truly does love her. Just as O'Reilly and Jackson are about to give her up and celebrate their success, the door is kicked down by Naville's butler, Mayhew (Ian McNeice
), who shoots the two angels in the head (apparently killing them).
Leaving Celine locked in the trunk, Naville and Mayhew drove Robert and the two angels' bodies to the cabin, planning to fake a murder-suicide
.
In Heaven, Gabriel's secretary begs him to intervene, but he protests that he doesn't have the authority. Instead, he telephones God
and asks Him to do so. God agrees, and Celine is released from the truck by their neighbor, Tod (Maury Chaykin
). Taking Tod's gun, she runs to the cabin and confronts her father, while Mayhew holds Robert at gunpoint.
Throughout the film, Robert has had recurring dreams of having his life saved by being shot through the heart by an "arrow of love." Taking a leap of faith, Celine shoots Robert through the heart, and the bullet passes through without harming him, to hit Mayhew in the shoulder, crippling him. Seeing Robert survive an apparent gunshot wound to the heart drives Naville insane.
After a whispered conference in Al's bar, Robert and Celine walk outside to their wedding.
In an epilogue, Gabriel frees O'Reilly and Jackson from a pair of body bags. After Gabriel congratulates them on a successful case, the two angels embrace as they prepare to return home.
In a second epilogue (filmed with claymation), Robert and Celine retrieve the suitcase full of money from the crashed car in the woods, then settle down in their new castle in Scotland
.
gives the film a score of 40% based on 35 reviews, with an average score of 5.5/10. Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average
score in the 0-100 range based on reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 35% for the film, based on reviews from 22 critics.
Roger Ebert
gave A Life Less Ordinary a negative review, presenting it 2 out of 4 stars. He described the film as a "movie that never convinces us that it needed to be made." He goes on to call the plot a mess and states that it "expends enormous energy to tell a story that is tedious and contrived."
within leading British comic 2000 AD
, written by then-editor David Bishop
and drawn by Steve Yeowell
. Screenwriter John Hodge also wrote a novelisation of the film that was published by Penguin Books (ISBN 0-14-027215-1).
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
, written by John Hodge. It stars Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
, Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen...
, and Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
.
Plot
In HeavenHeaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
(which resembles a modern police headquarters), angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s are tasked with ensuring that humans on Earth find love. The "Captain", Gabriel (Dan Hedaya
Dan Hedaya
Daniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
), is upset at reviewing the file of angel partners O'Reilly (Hunter) and Jackson (Lindo), all of whose recent cases have ended in divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
or misery. Gabriel is being pressed for results, so he introduces a radical new incentive: if their latest case isn't "cracked" - meaning, if the pair in question do not fall, and stay, in love, O'Reilly and Jackson must stay on Earth forever, not appealing to them. They open their case file, and see what is in store for them...
Celine Naville (Diaz) is the spoiled twenty-something daughter of a wealthy businessman. When one of her suitors, a loathsome dentist named Elliott (Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci is an American actor, writer, film producer and film director. He has been nominated for several notable film awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in The Lovely Bones...
), proposes marriage to her, she offers to say yes, but only if he agrees to play "William Tell
William Tell
William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle....
" with an apple on his head. As she takes aim with a pistol, Elliot's nerves fail and he moves to stop her, spoiling her aim and causing a non-fatal head wound.
Robert Lewis (McGregor) is a janitor
Janitor
A janitor or custodian is a professional who takes care of buildings, such as hospitals and schools. Janitors are responsible primarily for cleaning, and often some maintenance and security...
employed in the basement of Celine's father's company. His dreams for writing a best-selling trash novel are shot down by his coworkers, he is told that he is being made redundant and replaced by a robot, by his manager. Whilst drowning his sorrows at a local bar, his girlfriend, Lily (K.K. Dodds) tells him she is leaving him for an aerobics instructor.
O'Reilly and Jackson start their process by posing as collection agents repossessing all of Robert's things and evicting him from his apartment. Deciding this is the last straw, Robert storms to the high-rise office of Mr. Naville (Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
) while Naville is berating Celine for the William Tell fiasco. Security guards run in and start to beat Robert to a pulp, but Robert grabs one of their guns and holds them at bay (accidentally shooting Naville in the thigh). When Celine introduces herself, Robert decides to kidnap her.
He drives her to a remote cabin in the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
woods. Soon, it becomes clear that Celine is the one in control: after easily slipping free after he has tied her up, she surprises him by sticking around. Robert comes to realize that she is so bored with her normal life, and hates her father so much, that she is staying with the adventure, and the chance to get back at Naville. Eventually, she proposes that they partner up to extort a huge ransom.
O'Reilly and Jackson, now posing as bounty hunters, hire themselves to Naville to retrieve Celine and kill Robert.
After Robert's first attempt to collect the ransom fails (when O'Reilly opens fire on him with a machine gun), he feels downcast, but Celine encourages him that he got away. Feeling cheered up, he takes her out to a rustic bar, where they pretend to be newlyweds, and sing "Beyond the Sea
Beyond the Sea (song)
"Beyond the Sea" is a 1946 contemporary pop song with music taken from the song "La Mer" by Charles Trenet and lyrics by Jack Lawrence.Trenet had composed "La Mer" with French lyrics totally different and unrelated to the English language version that Lawrence composed...
" on the karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
machine. The next morning, Robert wakes up and is stunned to see that he and Celine have apparently slept together.
Robert makes a second demand for the ransom, with a letter written in Celine's blood. Naville gives O'Reilly and Jackson the money, and they go to meet Robert in the forest. To their disappointment, Robert appears willing to let Celine go in exchange for the money before O'Reilly stops his getaway. Aside, Jackson confesses his fears that the two are not in love yet. O'Reilly responds, "Jeopardy, Jackson. Always works."
While O'Reilly and Celine wait by their car, Jackson takes Robert into the woods to execute him. Before he can, Celine decks O'Reilly, runs into the woods, and knocks Jackson out with a shovel. As Robert and Celine drive away, O'Reilly grabs the towbar and rides along. As she points her gun, Robert and Celine jump from the car, and it careens off a cliff, with the money still inside.
Since they are short of money, Celine decides to rob a bank with Jackson's pistol. The robbery goes smoothly, until a security guard shoots at Celine. Robert pushes her out of the way, taking a bullet in the thigh. Celine hurriedly drives him back to the city, to be operated on by Elliot (the closest thing she can find to a discreet medical specialist). A little later, when Robert regains consciousness, he is appalled to see Celine playing a sleazy sexual roleplaying game with Elliott. A fight breaks out, and Robert knocks Elliott unconscious. As they drive away, Celine explains that she only agreed to Elliott's request so he would help Robert - and, in any case, it's none of Robert's business, since he and Celine aren't "involved," whatever he might think. Hurt, Robert gets out of the car and walks away.
To get them back together, Jackson writes a love poem in Robert's handwriting and sends it to Celine. Overcome, she runs back to the bar, where Robert has started working as a janitor, and says he has won her heart with the poem. O'Reilly and Jackson, listening, dance for joy... until Robert says that he's never written a poem in his life. Humiliated, Celine runs out again. But after she's gone, Robert's boss, Al (Tony Shalhoub
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
), knocks some sense into him: Robert has nothing in his life except the improbable love of "an intelligent, passionate, beautiful, rich woman... so why are you even thinking about it?" Robert runs after Celine, but is too late: O'Reilly and Jackson, believing they have failed, decide to make their Earth-bound lives bearable by kidnapping Celine for ransom.
Robert tracks Celine to their hideout, where she's being held, blind folded and gagged. Robert knocks O'Reilly down with a punch. As he struggles with Jackson, he tells Celine that he truly does love her. Just as O'Reilly and Jackson are about to give her up and celebrate their success, the door is kicked down by Naville's butler, Mayhew (Ian McNeice
Ian McNeice
Ian McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
), who shoots the two angels in the head (apparently killing them).
Leaving Celine locked in the trunk, Naville and Mayhew drove Robert and the two angels' bodies to the cabin, planning to fake a murder-suicide
Murder-suicide
A murder–suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons before or at the same time as killing himself or herself. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms, including:...
.
In Heaven, Gabriel's secretary begs him to intervene, but he protests that he doesn't have the authority. Instead, he telephones God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and asks Him to do so. God agrees, and Celine is released from the truck by their neighbor, Tod (Maury Chaykin
Maury Chaykin
Maury Alan Chaykin was an American-born Canadian actor. Best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, he was also known for his work as a character actor in many films and on television programs.-Personal life:...
). Taking Tod's gun, she runs to the cabin and confronts her father, while Mayhew holds Robert at gunpoint.
Throughout the film, Robert has had recurring dreams of having his life saved by being shot through the heart by an "arrow of love." Taking a leap of faith, Celine shoots Robert through the heart, and the bullet passes through without harming him, to hit Mayhew in the shoulder, crippling him. Seeing Robert survive an apparent gunshot wound to the heart drives Naville insane.
After a whispered conference in Al's bar, Robert and Celine walk outside to their wedding.
In an epilogue, Gabriel frees O'Reilly and Jackson from a pair of body bags. After Gabriel congratulates them on a successful case, the two angels embrace as they prepare to return home.
In a second epilogue (filmed with claymation), Robert and Celine retrieve the suitcase full of money from the crashed car in the woods, then settle down in their new castle in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Cast
- Ewan McGregorEwan McGregorEwan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
as Robert Lewis - Cameron DiazCameron DiazCameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
as Celine Naville - Holly HunterHolly HunterHolly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen...
as O'Reilly - Delroy LindoDelroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
as Jackson - Ian HolmIan HolmSir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
as Naville - Dan HedayaDan HedayaDaniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
as GabrielGabrielIn Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus... - Stanley TucciStanley TucciStanley Tucci is an American actor, writer, film producer and film director. He has been nominated for several notable film awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in The Lovely Bones...
as Elliot Zweikel - Maury ChaykinMaury ChaykinMaury Alan Chaykin was an American-born Canadian actor. Best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, he was also known for his work as a character actor in many films and on television programs.-Personal life:...
as Tod Johnson - Tony ShalhoubTony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
as Al - K.K. Dodds as Lily
- Ian McNeiceIan McNeiceIan McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
as Mayhew - Christopher GorhamChristopher GorhamChristopher David Gorham is an American actor.- Early life :Gorham was born in Fresno, California to David Gorham, a certified public accountant and Cathryn Gorham, a school nurse. He attended high school at Roosevelt School of the Arts and graduated from UCLA with a BA in Film & Theater Arts...
as Walt - Timothy OlyphantTimothy OlyphantTimothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
as Hiker
Critical response
A Life Less Ordinary has received mixed reviews from film critics. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 40% based on 35 reviews, with an average score of 5.5/10. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score in the 0-100 range based on reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 35% for the film, based on reviews from 22 critics.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave A Life Less Ordinary a negative review, presenting it 2 out of 4 stars. He described the film as a "movie that never convinces us that it needed to be made." He goes on to call the plot a mess and states that it "expends enormous energy to tell a story that is tedious and contrived."
Box-office performance
The film opened up in theatres on October 24, 1997. During its opening weekend, the film ranked 9th overall by pulling in only $2,007,279. By the end of its run, the film grossed a total of $4,366,722 domestically.Adaptations
The film was serialised as a full-length comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
within leading British comic 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
, written by then-editor David Bishop
David Bishop
David Bishop is a screenwriter and author. Born in New Zealand, he was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000....
and drawn by Steve Yeowell
Steve Yeowell
Steve Yeowell is a British comics artist, well-known for his work on the long-running science fiction and fantasy weekly comic 2000 AD.-Biography:...
. Screenwriter John Hodge also wrote a novelisation of the film that was published by Penguin Books (ISBN 0-14-027215-1).
External links
- A Life Less Ordinary at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...