Rating: 
Summary: Not great, just fun.
Review: Actually, the many loves, and types of love, contained in this little film are quite 'ordinary' and happen every day. They just don't usually make it to the big, or little, screen. We have a guy who owns a house. He can't come out because his mother fantasizes that he will get married one day. He rents rooms to a female in a rock band (with whom he, and just about everyone else, has an affair; a dead guy; a narcissistic (and justifiably so) actor who likes it both ways; a cute little Asian boy; and an over-weight bank teller. The movie must be viewed as a self-contained soap opera, considering the myriad twists of plot and sub-plot, which involves the usual betrayal, bank robbery, adultery, and murder. The nicest facet of the story is the developing romance between Vince (the Asian boy) and his 'straight' hispanic neighbor, Ramon -- who is also the son of an abusive father (upon whom his mother is cheating with Andy, the narcissistic actor!). The only two who have any integrity in the film are Ramon and Vince, and they are amply rewarded at the end. Probably only deserves three stars, but the people are cute enough to bump it up to four. And it's just nice to see a film where there is a natural variety of sexual preference. It's not SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, but it is fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Great script... poo direction
Review: After watching this movie, I needed to ask myself, "What the heck was that?" "No Ordinary Love" has a fairly well written script, a number of plot twists & turns, as well as both internal & external conflicts among its characters. I can honestly say I enjoyed the story. Now you're problly asking, "So, Brian... why only give it 2 stars?" Well, to be frank, "No Ordinary Love" is the best example of ruining a film through poor direction that I can think of. Some scenes seemed rushed, others were waaaay to long. If there was a sight gag or amusing punch line, it was killed within the next 45 seconds because the scene was just too long. Additionally, the acting provided by a number of characters was so poor... I just couldn't suspend my disbelief. Honestly, I've heard more convincing drama on "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You". Some of these actors were pulled directly from the bottom of a Cracker-Jack box; anyone who's played with Cracker Jack toys knows they're amusing for 5 minutes... then you through them out or entertain the dog with them. Overall, if your looking for a good story, try this movie. It's well written & with the proper imagination can be quite entertaining. If you're looking for convining acting or an example of a great indie-film.... you may have better luck with one of Ed Wood's films.
Rating:
Summary: Great script... poo direction
Review: After watching this movie, I needed to ask myself, "What the heck was that?" "No Ordinary Love" has a fairly well written script, a number of plot twists & turns, as well as both internal & external conflicts among its characters. I can honestly say I enjoyed the story. Now you're problly asking, "So, Brian... why only give it 2 stars?" Well, to be frank, "No Ordinary Love" is the best example of ruining a film through poor direction that I can think of. Some scenes seemed rushed, others were waaaay to long. If there was a sight gag or amusing punch line, it was killed within the next 45 seconds because the scene was just too long. Additionally, the acting provided by a number of characters was so poor... I just couldn't suspend my disbelief. Honestly, I've heard more convincing drama on "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You". Some of these actors were pulled directly from the bottom of a Cracker-Jack box; anyone who's played with Cracker Jack toys knows they're amusing for 5 minutes... then you through them out or entertain the dog with them. Overall, if your looking for a good story, try this movie. It's well written & with the proper imagination can be quite entertaining. If you're looking for convining acting or an example of a great indie-film.... you may have better luck with one of Ed Wood's films.
Rating:
Summary: Crackpot plotting - horrible acting. Never dull, though!
Review: Closeted landlord Kevin lives with his weirdo tenants, an orphaned teenager, a male stripper and a girl playing in an all-girl rock band. Another tenant has recently fallen to his death in a drunken stupor. None of these people pay the rent.
Kevin's mum, who owns the house, threatens Kevin with eviction if he doesn't get some paying tenants who can help her meet the mortgages. Full-figured bank clerk Ben is recruited as the missing tenant, and all seems, well, - well!Then Vince, the teenager, develops a crush on his latino friend Ramon, while Andy, the male stripper, comforts Ramon's slutty mother. Ben, meanwhile, is not what he appears to be, and Kevin marries the female rock singer to please mommy, even though he is still in love with the dead tenant. Kevin is one stupid guy. Then things turn nasty...in a very strange way.. Trying to outguess this script is patently impossible. No ordinary love plays like something written by John Waters, directed by Andy Warhol/ Gregg Araki and produced by Aaron Spelling. The totally unsuitable music score leans heavily on Dallas, Melrose place and those icky Chris Columbus comedies. Swirling violins, moody pianos and "funny" pizzicato music whenever fat Ben enters the picture. The plot is so scrappy it falls apart early on. A lot of interplay between the characters, sure, but nothing is even vaguely related to anything else. The "acting" is brutally bad. The schizofrenic mood never settles. From crime-caper to tender love story via melodrama and mystery back to social critique and satire on family life. No ordinary love has one thing going for it: It's never dull. Terrible, yes, but never dull. I would choose this over any Chris Columbus movie, anytime. And - it's a gay movie, as well. Sort of. I could never figure it out. The reviewer from Houston got it absolutely right. This is crazy, plain and simple. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
Rating: 
Summary: Loaded with cool features
Review: For an independent, "omnisexual" picture, No Ordinary Love has a lot of really cool features on the DVD. Everyone I know really likes the Vince and Ramon story, and the DVD makers took that subplot right out of the movie and made it a stand-alone featurette! You can also jump directly to each of the hot love scenes between the beautiful young actors. The DVD version of the movie, an entertaining, Almodovar-esque comedic melodrama, also has an informative and funny commentary track. The music is great, especially the bathtub scene with "Tempted". The young actors may not have acted much before, but they have so much screen charisma, I didn't mind their inexperience. I wish there were more movies like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: This Movie was AWFUL
Review: I can't remember being so disappointed in a gay/lesbian movie. The DVD package was really good, and that's what attracted me to the film even though I knew nothing about it. But when I watched it, I found that I was laughing out loud - not at the film itself (which tries to be a quirky dramedy), but because it was so earthshatteringly awful. The acting was bad, the script was worse, and the direction was terrible, as was the music. The only reason I kept watching it was to see just how much worse it could get, and in that respect it didn't disappoint me. What a gross, gross movie.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie was AWFUL
Review: I can't remember being so disappointed in a gay/lesbian movie. The DVD package was really good, and that's what attracted me to the film even though I knew nothing about it. But when I watched it, I found that I was laughing out loud - not at the film itself (which tries to be a quirky dramedy), but because it was so earthshatteringly awful. The acting was bad, the script was worse, and the direction was terrible, as was the music. The only reason I kept watching it was to see just how much worse it could get, and in that respect it didn't disappoint me. What a gross, gross movie.
Rating:
Summary: A hilarious murder mystery.
Review: I may be a minority of one, but the surprising plot twists and the zany characters make this a very funny murder mystery. $90,000 missing from a bank, a cuckolded husband with a gun, a bank teller with a house-cleaning obsession, a gay student in lust with his straight neighbor, a $20,000 ring (who pushed its owner down the stairs?) all go together to make this one of the brightest and wittiest movies I've seen.
Rating:
Summary: Watch it again and again
Review: I really loved Nicholas Roeg's film THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH starring Daviod Bowie because you had to watch it several times to "get it". It's the same deal with NO ORDINARY LOVE. Yeah, there are a lot of subplots, but that makes it all the more interesting to watch the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time around. And the unique thing about this very sexy soap is: you can watch it once normally, and then again with Spanish subtitles (practice your Spanish!) and again with French subtitles (ditto French), and then again with a very interesting commentary by the filmmakers. Then you can isolate all kinds of wonderful moments from the film with the many menus. Somebody put a lot of thought into this DVD --much more than other gay titles I've seen on DVD. It sure won't be something you watch once and then put on the shelf to collect dust.
Rating:
Summary: waste of money and time
Review: In short...I couldn't find a single aspect of this movie that would be worth even "1 star"... should I have the rating "minus 5" for sure it would apply. The plot is completely senseless and the actors (my God) should do anything else but perform. If anyone feels like buyng this movie please let me know it... I will be very glad to get rid of it.
|
