Thursday, July 27, 2006

A Life Less Ordinary

This movie has some age on it now, but I still find myself compelled to watch it whenever I happen to cross paths with a TV while it's on...which just so happened to be the case a couple of hours ago.

Starring Cameron Diaz when she was still fresh/attractive and Ewan McGregor before he starred in the second trilogy of Star Wars flicks, subsequently shedding some cool points, the two of them seem to have genuine chemistry. That's all fine and good, but it's the script and delivery that set this one apart from most romantic comedies...a genre I enjoy about as much as a crippling bowel obstruction. What makes this film different?

First, it's actually funny. I laugh when I watch it. That's a definite change of pace for a romantic "comedy". On the rare occasions I have watched other films in that particular subcategory, I usually found myself doing anything but laughing. There's always the classical, literary definition of comedy and in that context maybe some of these flicks succeed, but in the pursuit of funny they are typically non-starters.

Second, it's clever. The premise is unusual, at least in my film watching experience, the storytelling can be downright bizarre and it's full of irrational leaps, but at least it holds my attention! This is a date flick I would not have minded actually seeing with a date. It's weird and quirky and even nonsensical in spots, but that is much more appealing to me than vaguely cute, cookie cutter, rehashed benality. The movie embraces weird and runs with it...I say all the better.

Third and lastly, it's actually entertaining. For the reasons stated above, I find myself entertained by the movie. It's not Oscar caliber and is not the best work from anyone involved, but the movie has a little of everything. It's a mish mash and a mess, which appeals to me on some level. Not a thinking movie, but not outright dumb, just amusing and entertaining.

And really, that's all I ask from ANY movie. Entertain me for fuck's sake! Some friends of mine recently went to see M. Night Shamylan's Lady in the Water, but I refused to go because of the terrible reviews it had been receiving from just about everyone in the free world. Turns out, everyone appears to have been right. People were standing up and leaving midway through the film and one of my friends actually fell asleep. No one was entertained, except maybe the movie's creators, who managed to make a few million bucks during its opening weekend, but I have a feeling even they won't be very enthused now that word of mouth is more or less killing their creation at the box office.

Why is it asking so much that movies be entertaining? Don't get me wrong, entertaining does not have to mean funny or exciting. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a very airy, artistically filmed movie with no comedic intent or giant explosions or naked starlets to gawk at, but it is well acted, skillfully directed and entertaining. It makes me want to continue watching and while I'm viewing the movie, I am imagining what it would be like to be within the story. In short, it gets my attention and holds it. It's an insane concept, I know!

When I'm paying to see a movie, it had damn well better be entertaining. The last genuine, shitheap of a movie I had the displeasure of seeing personally was The Hills Have Eyes. To this day, I'm wishing I had gotten my money back. It was so awful that I found myself dumbfounded by it's very existence! But there it was, in all its low class, low cost, lowbrow glory. When the most intense part of your film is an inappropriately drawn out and completely unnecessary rape/murder scene, you've got some serious problems. I was never a huge Wes Craven fan, but seeing this remake of his "classic" made me want to kick the man's balls in.

And that's the thing. We pay to be entertained and while I recognize "entertaining" is a word that means different things to different people, some of this garbage simply should NOT be made. Then again, I tend to be a little out of touch, so maybe these are exactly the kinds of movies people want to see. If so, Jebus help us all!

Anyway, getting back to where I started, A Life Less Ordinary was just on one of the cable nets and I was obligated to stop and watch it, despite it being a romantic (dark) comedy. That in and of itself makes it a movie worth checking out.

If you have no idea what flick I am talking about, check out the movie's details on IMDB here.

Posted by Erik @ 7/27/2006 01:34:00 PM