A Life Less Ordinary: A Success for Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz

"A Life Less Ordinary" is one of the great movies you've probably never seen. I must admit, I purchased this movie for two trivial reasons: 1. I love Ewan McGregor and pretty much every movie he's in. 2. Seeing some of the movie quotes, it looked pretty humorous.

I was not disappointed. Using strong performances, humor and some general cheesiness, this Danny Boyle directed comedy delivers. It's not cinematic brilliance, but it doesn't really aim to be either. It's a good laugh and a happy ending.

McGregor stars as Robert Lewis, a cleaning man who is having a bad day. He's just been fired from his job (after being replaced by a robot) and his girlfriend just left him for her aerobics instructor. And all he really wants to do is finish writing his trashy novel.

Cameron Diaz costars as Celine Naville, a spoiled brat intent on defying her father.

The two meet when Robert pulls a gun on Celine's father, who happens to own the company Robert just got fired from. Robert decides to kidnap Celine, who goes along with it to get money from her father. She has to help a stumbling Robert, who has never kidnapped anyone before. Celine, on the other hand, is experienced in the kidnapping game, having been kidnapped herself at a young age.

Is it all just a matter of change that these two met? Not really. It's all part of the plan for two angels, played by Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo. Hunter's character is convinced that jeopardy will force Robert and Celine to fall in love with one another, and so places them in as much danger as possible.

The plot line is a little over the top. But McGregor and Diaz make you forget that pretty quickly. McGregor's Robert is bumbling but lovable. Diaz's Celine is abrasive at first but has a softer side. For his efforts, McGregor won an Empire Award for Best British Actor in 1998. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119535/awards)