Extra Ordinary (Review)
Extra Ordinary is Quite Simply Extraordinary!
One of the greatest things that the British Empire ever gave the world was a dry sense of humor. This can, of course, be found throughout the United Kingdom and the Irish film Extra Ordinary is stuffed full of it. It’s a deliciously ridiculous paranormal comedy that beautifully blends the supernatural with the mundane. At its heart though, Extra Ordinary is a movie about being able to move on with life after grief. Because of that, there’s a sense of comfort that comes from watching the warm-hearted characters bumbling along as they do their best to stop the forces of evil, who are just as bumbling. It’s a delightfully funny and uplifting movie that had me in stitches thanks to the “Garth Marenghi” aesthetic and brilliant performances from the lead actors.
In a small Irish town, there lives a driving instructor named Rose (Maeve Higgins) with a very special ability to talk to ghosts. She’s abandoned this talent after a tragedy befell her paranormal investigator father years ago. Trying to live a regular (and slightly depressing life), she reluctantly gets sucked back into the ghostbusting game when a local father named Martin Martin (Barry Ward) comes to get help with dealing with his deceased abusive wife. Things really get out of hand when the two find themselves in the middle of a Satanic ritual brought on by one-hit-wonder Christian Winter (Will Forte) trying to make a deal to revive his failed career. Despite being out of their depth, the two are the only hope at stopping the crazed rockstar before he can sacrifice a young virgin to a demon.
There’s a straight-faced charm that makes Extra Ordinary so wickedly funny. Forte is perfect as the former rocker who has no real idea what he’s doing as a new satanist trying to perform a dark ritual. His particular brand of “beta-male” whininess as his aspirations tend to be much bolder than his character’s ability to follow through with them. He’s not the only feeble male in the film as poor Bary Ward’s Martin Martin has to deal with his ex-wife’s abuse even in death, getting a shiner from her that he has to hide with large glasses and explaining that he always “pushes her buttons.” He has that sort of timid Hugh Grant brand of shy charisma that makes people swoon for British blokes. That is until his ex takes over his body revealing exactly why old Martin Martin was so scared of her in the first place. Lastly, there’s Higgins, who is a charming heroine that was cal all root for from the get-go. Suffering a loss of confidence due to an incident with her father, she’s in constant fear that she will only make things worse. That all changes though when it becomes clear she’s the only hope they have and she steps up in the best possible way.
One thing that I want to make perfectly clear is how hilarious Extra Ordinary is. All the characters do an outstanding job of “keeping their wits about them” while still never failing to understate just how strange everything is. Rose has tons of experience with the supernatural thanks to her father’s series of educational VHS specials on the subject but isn’t afraid to admit that things are still really messed up. There’s a sort of humdrum approach to every aspect of Extra Ordinary from the hauntings, such as a recycling bin haunted by a ghost, to Christian Winters playing Satanic chants on a boombox since he doesn’t have a “coven.” Then there’s the rough around the edges charisma of the town folk themselves, who seem more annoyed than scared of the various hauntings and are all too happy to give ghosts a piece of their mind. I was in stitches throughout this wonderful film.
There’s a very analog aesthetic to Extra Ordinary. It starts with a segment from one of Rose’s father’s films that was clearly shot in the early 80s for public access. It sets the tone as it dives into hauntings and the concept of ghosts in general. Outside of that, there’s a timeless feel as folks use old Nokia “bricks” and the “classic” cars are kept in such pristine condition it’s hard to tell if they are new or just well cared for. Then there’s Christian Winter’s bizarre space rock hit Cosmic Woman that has a late 70s folk-rock feel to it. It’s hard to really tell when Extra Ordinary is supposed to take place, but that all adds to the quaint delight of the film.
Extra Ordinary is one of the best comedies I’ve seen so far in 2020. It’s such an unexpected story with the perfect cast that manages to nail every joke. I must say that there’s nothing I can think of that I didn’t enjoy in Extra Ordinary. Everything is quite simply spot on and, as I said before, I was cracking up the entire time. As funny as it is, Extra Ordinary also has plenty of heart and left me feeling good at the end. It’s almost strange to think that two of my favorite films of 2020 were seen while theaters across the country were closed. Still, Extra Ordinary definitely took a bit of the edge off my self-isolation, and because of that I whole-heartedly recommend this incredible comedy to all of my readers. Directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman deserve to be proud of this outstanding indie film.
