Film Reviews: Life Less Ordinary / The Bone Collector / Stigmata

``Life Less Ordinary''

ROMANCE IS not confined to earthly creatures or so it seems in 20th Century Fox's ``Life Less Ordinary''. Celestial beings are watching us, making matches and uniting their choices. Thus Robert, (Ewan McGregor) a janitor in a huge office and the very rich and pampered Celine (Cameron Diaz) are to meet, fall in love and get married, decides Gabriel, from the skies above.

The angels or rather the celestial cops, O'Reilly (Holly Hunter) and Jackson (Delroy Lindo) are entrusted with the task. How they accomplish it forms the rest of ``Life Less Ordinary.''

Dialogues punctuated with wit, levity and humour are a strong point of this enjoyable, breezy comedy. The naive Robert is a joy to watch, especially when he struggles to sound like a ``genuine kidnapper.'' Ewan McGregor is very appealing as Robert.

Sharp-tongued, beautiful and buoyant Celine is a perfect foil to Robert. Cameron Diaz as the confident Celine sails through the film with the right mixture of dignity and pride.

Pitted against these two are the angels O'Reilly and Jackson. Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo are nowhere near our concept of angels, but they present something very different and very interesting too. The ploys they adopt and the devious schemes they execute to bring Robert and Celine together are absolutely hilarious.

Ian Holm plays the rich, cold father of Celine.

The exotic landscapes of Utah with picturesque greenery and gorgeous mountains in the background juxtaposed with the bustling city make marvellous visuals.

John Hodge is responsible for the story, which is thoroughly incredible even to the most credulous. But at a time when imagination of writers is running riot and they come out with bizarre and grotesque themes, here is a light-hearted film that deals with divine intervention which decrees that two good souls should come together.

An action packed film from scene one, ``Life Less Ordinary'' has its share of chases, gun shots, kidnapping and fights put together and topped with a well-presented romance. The result is of course, wholesome.

MALATHI RANGARAJAN

* * *

``The Bone Collector''

THE CITY of New York gears up for another cold night. But at the JFK Airport, there is hectic activity going on. A couple hails a taxi and gets into it. But little do they realise that this is the last time they shall ever see the lights of New York, for they are trapped in the clutches of a serial killer...

In another part of the city, a paralysed ex-cop who is a forensic expert and an author, is contemplating suicide, as his doctors predict that he might end up becoming a `vegetable' if he has another of his violent seizures... These two seemingly disjointed scenes are married together when the ex-cop Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) decides to track the killer who loves to torture his victims in the weirdest way possible - one is treated to some poisonous fumes while another is served as dinner to some healthy looking rats! And all these happen underground mind you!

But as Lincoln is immobile, he chooses young and pretty model- turned-cop Amelia (Angelina Jolie) to actually become his legs and hands and carry out his investigation. She does all the dirty work like visiting the scene of the crime (always dark and spooky tunnels) and picking up evidence like bits of newspaper, mice hair, bones culled out from the victims' bodies and taking photographs of mutilated corpses. When there are such tough guys in the New York Police Department, one wonders why a chit of a girl should be sent on such dangerous missions. Mercifully, director Phillip Noyce (``Patriot Games'', ``Clear And Present Dangers'') does not get too much into the gruesome details.

However, the story lacks punch and does not offer much by way of plot twists. The director relies mostly on the usual sound effects and the false alarms - the sinister-looking assistant at the bookshop almost makes one believe that he is the serial killer. The rest of the film is on predictable lines.

But the film is somewhat redeemed by a fabulous performance by Denzel Washington who is a pleasure to watch. It is his film all the way. He is one of the most expressive actors and can communicate with just his eyes. Angelina Jolie has nothing by way of histrionics. The rest of the cast, including rapper Queen Latifah (who plays Washington's nurse), floats in and out of the screen.

This Columbia-Universal Pictures joint production is based on a book of the same name by Jeffrey Deaver. He belongs to the new genre of writers who specialise in forensic detective novels pioneered by Patricia Cornwell.

``Stigmata''

A SCROLL found near the Dead Sea is supposed to have been the lost Gospel containing the teaching of Jesus Christ in his own words. This scroll would stir a hornet's nest if made available to the public.

Director Rupert Wainwright, through this supernatural thriller, serves a bizarre and pointless rehash of ``The Exorcist''.The film opens with a miracle in a Brazilian church where the statue of the Virgin Mary is shedding tears - of blood - after the passing away of the priest.

In Pittsburgh, Frankie Page, a hairdresser, receives a special gift from her mother - a rosary from Brazil. And all hell breaks loose, as they say, in Frankie's life... A simple luxurious bath is converted into a ghastly experience as amid hysteric screams and yells, her hands are nailed... by an unseen force. As she takes a walk, she has another of her `attacks' and now her head begins to bleed, and soon her feet follow suit...in fact at one point, she levitates as if she is crucified a la Christ.

At the Vatican, special investigator Father Kiernan, who has been a witness to the strange phenomenon at the Brazilian church, hears of Frankie Page and goes to Pittsburgh. In the midst of all this, the Vatican is trying to suppress a biblical text that might liquidate the power of the Roman Catholic Church! Things reach a boiling point when Frankie in one of her possessed moods, utters some Aramaic words (in a baritone voice!), that are actually extracts from the missing text. Now it is left to Father Kiernan to unravel the mystery and figure out the missing links before the Church intervenes.Patricia Arquette as Frankie Page has little to do except scream while the make-up special effects and sound effects departments provide the blood and gore! What actors of the calibre of Gabriel Bryne (as Father Keirnan) and Jonathan Pryce (as the Cardinal) are doing in this film is something one fails to understand.

Director Wainwright may have a penchant for fancy camera angles and music video-style editing, but he should have spent a little more time to bring some coherence and originality into the script.

SAVITHA PADMANABHAN

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