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EXTRA ORDINARY
Directors: Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman Cast: Maeve Higgins, Barry Ward, Will Forte, Claudia O'Doherty, Jamie Beamish, Terri Chandler, Risteard Cooper, Emma Coleman MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:34 Release Date: 3/6/20 (limited); 3/13/20 (wider) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | March 12, 2020 A good joke is in the writing, yes, but it's also in the delivery and the timing. The latter elements aren't quite as developed in Extra Ordinary, a clever but cluttered comedy about the supernatural from writers/directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman. The story is mostly about Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins, charming but noticeably nervous in her first major role), who used to speak to ghosts under the tutelage of her late father, a renowned expert in the paranormal. After the father's death, for which Rose blames herself, she abandoned the realm of the supernatural and now runs a driving school. She's brought back into the ghost business when Martin Martin (Barry Ward), a widower whom Rose immediately fancies, calls, looking for help with the ghost of his dead wife. The ghost has been controlling his life for years. The real plot, though, involves Christian Winter (Will Forte), a washed-up musician who is looking to make a deal with Satan for a career comeback. For that, he needs to sacrifice a virgin. A very phallic-shaped divining rod leads him to Martin's teenage daughter Sarah (Emma Coleman), who ends up unconscious and floating above her bed, waiting for Christian to transport her to his manor for a ritual during a forthcoming blood moon. Rose and Martin have to break the spell. There are some amusing ideas and character quirks (Rose apparently has never seen or even heard of any movie about the supernatural) here, but it almost seems as if Ahern and Loughman tried to include every idea they had for the material, instead of honing the strongest bits and story points. It's a movie so busy with conceits that much of the humor feels like a concept waiting to be fleshed out. Basically, it's easy to comprehend why and how, in theory, most of the gags are funny, and one of the filmmakers' strengths is how confidently they adjust the comedic tone. Some of the jokes are gross and/or violent, such as how Christian's first virgin spontaneously combusts, but there's an innocent charm to the whole thing. In practice, though, Extra Ordinary lacks polish in terms of its comedy, its characters, and its story. It's usually better to build upon one or two good ideas, as opposed to this movie's approach, which is having about a dozen good but underdeveloped ideas competing for attention and laughs. Copyright © 2020 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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