Review of A Life Less Ordinary (1997) by Adrienne L — 04 Sep 2009

" "Kidnap For Beginners", Chapter One. Have you even asked for a ransom yet?".

Director: Danny Boyle.

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo.

Running time: 103 minutes.

Country: UK/USA.

A Life Less Ordinary is an absolutely brilliant film to watch. It is a very psychological story because of the kidnappings and of the very difficult and complex relationships between the characters. It is a very tense thriller that has a few scenes of action involved especially in the scenes with the cars and the chases.

It is really odd that there is a kidnapping going on and the kidnapper and victim fall in love. I have heard that is something called Stockholm Syndrome from a James Bond movie. Ewan McGregor is one fantastic actor and he has proven it once again especially in his third collaboration with Danny Boyle. I find his collaboration with Boyle extremely underrated. He plays a cleaning man called Robert Lewis. He becomes a bit twisted after he was fired by his boss and replaced by a robot. He becomes twisted into kidnapping his boss's daughter hostage. It is a very heart racing story because of what his fate is going to be. Cameron Diaz was absolutely brilliant as Celine Naville. She was a really irresistable, hot and sexy young woman who seems to be a very dominate character to start with but then becomes soft and quite nice. Holly Hunter was a really good psychopath in this film. I think this is the first time I've seen her play a normal character who talks in a live-action film.

Danny Boyle makes this a bit like a psychological thriller like Trainspotting but wasn't as good as that one. Boyle has directed a very suspensful story that is a real thrill ride. The script was really good. What I loved the most about this film was that it was very original and was filmed in that sort of way.

I have now seen all of Danny Boyle's films and I am pleased to say that he hasn't failed me once. I enjoyed this more than Millions and The Beach but not as much as Sunshine, Shallow Grave, Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later and especially Trainspotting. A Life Less Ordinary is a very exciting, intense and adventurous romantic-thriller that I could recommend to everyone.