Trainspotting was a rude awakening to the USofA that told the masses that there's more to good cinema that what comes from Hollywood. Danny Boyle, that films director, instantly became a huge commodity to the American studios, and American celebrities were clamoring for a chance to work with him. But when it came time for his next feature, Boyle chose his favorite lead actor, Scotland's Ewan McGregor, to be the star (and why not, he's a bloody good actor).
With all the people he could have chosen for his female lead in A Life Less Ordinary, an offbeat tale of blossoming romance, Boyle decided to stick to his independent roots and go with Cameron Diaz, who's only mainstream role until that time had been her debut in "the Mask" (she's since become a major supporting actress and lead in her own right).
For support Doyle managed to snag two greats in the field of supporting actors, Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo, as well as great independent actors like Ian Holm, Maury Chaykin and Stanley Tucci. With all this firepower, A Life Less Ordinary should have been a hit film, but it wasn't. In fact, it came and went at the theatres, and was quite overlooked at the video stores. Boyle's achievements on Trainspotting had been so blown out of proportion that it was inevitable that his follow up would fail.
But by all intense purposes A Life Less Ordinary is way to good to be dismissed so easily. It's a comedy, with a supernatural twist, requiring a little bit of imagination on the part of the viewer. Reviews started saying that Boyle was a director of style, but this film proves that he's a storyteller, and a good one at that.
The script by John Hodge has two cupid type angels sent down to Earth with the mission of making Celine (Diaz), a stubborn, defiant tycoon's daughter, fall in love with Robert, an out-of-work, no prospects, wannabe writer. When Robert is fired by Celine's dad, he storms into his office to confront him, only to be assaulted by the building's security. Robert gets his hands on a gun and takes Celine hostage. The kidnapping obviously doesn't work out so well as Celine quickly takes control of the situation. Wanting to get away from her overbearing, posessive father, Celine helps Robert orchestrate the negotiations. Unfortunately, Celine's father hires hitmen, O'Reilley and Jackson (Hunter and Lindo), to take care of them. But the hitmen are really the angels, desparate to get the two tegether or else they cannot return to heaven. They figure the best way to make the two fall in love is to put them in mortal jeapordy.
Of course there's a lot of crazy interaction between the two parties, and the supporting characters include a manic dentist, a mountain man, and an Oddjob type henchman. It's an atypical love story with great acting, some metaphysical elements, a lot of style, and a lot of fun. It's a criminally overlooked and underrated film, and quite deserving for a rent.