Starring Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor; Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter Screenplay by John Hodge Directed by Danny Boyle

IN SHORT: Wacky until Silliness gets the better of it

You know things are bad in Heaven, when Angels are told to deliver or lose their gigs forever. You know that the Big Guy is being very unfair when his top workers (Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter) are assigned the almost impossible task of mating an out- of-work and out-of-love janitor (Ewan McGregor) with a spoiled rich girl (Cameron Diaz).

You know Cranky has seen too many movies when he can sit next to his date and reel off a whole list of movies he's seen this year with similar themes and gimmicks.

You know that something's not right when, despite all the laughter in your ears and laughs bubbling up your throat you know you are not enjoying a flick as much as you'd hoped to. That's the problem with A Life Less Ordinary, Danny Boyle and John Hodge's followup to Trainspotting. It's filled with that same off-kilter, cutting edge comedy that we expect but the point of the flick is slim to none.

It'll also remind you of half a dozen or so other movies from which bits and pieces are pulled or homaged. Then again, most movies pull bits and pieces from others, but none are this close to the bone. Cameron Diaz sings karaoke badly, just as in My Best Friends Wedding. The poor boy very rich girl is a staple of movies, most recently seen in Washington Square. As for one character teaching the other how to deal with a hopeless situation, points go to ALLO for beating Mad City to the big screen by a fortnight. The angel bit, I'm told by others in the eDrive loft is from The Two of Us with John Travolta.

Did Cranky (more importantly, did the "real people") laugh? Yes. Did we all enjoy ourselves? Cranky's date sure did (but then, she's seen Boyle's Trainspotting 7 times and Shallow Grave twice). But neither of us cared all that much when we shuffled out into the night.

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Eight Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to A Life Less Ordinary, he would have paid...

$3.00

Rent it.

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