Extra Ordinary

Name: Extra Ordinary
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Comedy
Released: March 6, 2020
Duration: 94 min
Rating: 72
Cast: Barry Ward, Carrie Crowley, Claudia O'Doherty, Emma Coleman, Jamie Beamish

2020

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Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Ratings

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Extra Ordinary

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Movie Details & Credits

Good Deed Entertainment | Release Date: March 6, 2020 | R

Starring: Barry Ward, Carrie Crowley, Claudia O'Doherty, Emma Coleman, Jamie Beamish, Maeve Higgins, Mary McEvoy, Risteard Cooper, Terri Chandler, Will Forte

Summary: Rose, a sweet, lonely driving instructor in rural Ireland, is gifted with supernatural abilities. Rose has a love/hate relationship with her ‘talents’ & tries to ignore the constant spirit related requests from locals – to exorcise possessed rubbish bins or haunted gravel. But! Christian Winter, a washed up, one-hit-wonder rock star, hasRose, a sweet, lonely driving instructor in rural Ireland, is gifted with supernatural abilities. Rose has a love/hate relationship with her ‘talents’ & tries to ignore the constant spirit related requests from locals – to exorcise possessed rubbish bins or haunted gravel. But! Christian Winter, a washed up, one-hit-wonder rock star, has made a pact with the devil for a return to greatness! He puts a spell on a local teenager- making her levitate. Her terrified father, Martin Martin, asks Rose to help save his daughter. Rose has to overcome the fear of her supernatural gift & work with Martin to save the girl, get the guy and be home in time for a light snack…maybe a yogurt or something.… Expand

Director: Enda Loughman and Mike Ahern

Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 94 min

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Critic Reviews

Bobby LePire

Mar 16, 2019

Those expecting that a movie about an occult sacrifice to ever become scary will be disappointed with Extra Ordinary. The filmmakers use the trappings of that kind of film for an all-out comedy. Thanks to its nonstop jokes, strong, likable characters, and marvelous cast the movie is hysterical. Read full review

Michael Rechtshaffen

Mar 5, 2020

Like those cheeky genre-splicing comedies that came before it, the Ahern-Loughman collaboration doesn’t merely goose the boundary between charming and outrageous, it gleefully tramples it into oblivion. Read full review

Empire Al Horner

Mar 30, 2020

The Conjuring by way of The Cornetto Trilogy, there’s little ordinary about Extra Ordinary – an unfalteringly funny, ectoplasm-drenched horror-comedy that deserves the cult status it’s destined for. Read full review

Jesse Hassenger

Mar 2, 2020

Some jokes may dissipate quickly, but its unusual warmth lingers in the air like a friendly ghost. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Mar 5, 2020

While Extra Ordinary overextends its ghosts-are-blasé conceit, Higgins and Ward are appealing leads, and the movie has plenty of charming moments, such as Rose watching an episode of her dad for guidance. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

Mar 16, 2019

Extra Ordinary is a kind of tea-cosy “Ghostbusters” that’s consistently funny in a pleasingly off-kilter way. Read full review

Donald Clarke

Mar 2, 2020

Extra Ordinary is not always subtle, but most viewers will yield to its mystic charms. Read full review

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User Reviews

umaumai

Apr 17, 2020

This movie isn’t perfect, but I really enjoyed it. I’m a bit shocked that the user rating is currently about a 6. I found it instantly interesting and very charming. It felt in many ways like it’s a small extension of the original Ghostbusters movie, minus the proton packs. It’s brimmingThis movie isn’t perfect, but I really enjoyed it. I’m a bit shocked that the user rating is currently about a 6. I found it instantly interesting and very charming. It felt in many ways like it’s a small extension of the original Ghostbusters movie, minus the proton packs. It’s brimming with wit and dry humor and somehow finds a way to balance the horror aspects without it seeming like it’s out of place. There is not that much gore and what little is there props up it’s lore and works well to drive the plot forward. The cinematography is fantastic which for a film like this really elevates the plot. My biggest complaint is while it gives many nods to classic horror films both visually and auditory, I just didn’t think the music was up to the film’s excellence. The casting is perfect and everyone is so entertaining to watch on screen. I’m not a big fan of Will Forte, but he is wonderful in his role and really brought something special with his performance. I think that this film is worth the time you spend watching.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Bertaut1

Mar 11, 2020

A consistently hilarious Irish ghost story; but Chris de Burgh is definitely going to sue

The debut feature from writer/directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, Extra Ordinary is an unexpectedly hilarious Irish ghost story. It's a quant film in all the right ways, leaning into the trope ofA consistently hilarious Irish ghost story; but Chris de Burgh is definitely going to sue

The debut feature from writer/directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, Extra Ordinary is an unexpectedly hilarious Irish ghost story. It's a quant film in all the right ways, leaning into the trope of small-town people forced to deal with situations far beyond their ability, and it gets a lot of mileage out of just how completely out of their depth they find themselves. The humour is low-key and irreverent, but it doesn't rely on winking at an audience it assumes to be Irish – I would imagine most of the laughs will translate well to international markets. Some of the nuances will be lost, but, by and large, the film is working with a broader palette that juxtaposes the supernatural with the utterly banal.

In an unspecified rural Irish town, Rose Dooley (stand-up comedienne Maeve Higgins, who is credited with "additional writing") is a lonely driving instructor. Gifted with the ability to talk to ghosts, Rose hasn't communicated with the dead since a childhood incident with a haunted pothole left her father, paranormal researcher Vincent Dooley (Risteard Cooper), dead. Meanwhile, one-hit-wonder Christian Winter (Will Forte in full caricature mode) is desperate to make a comeback and is in need of a virgin to sacrifice. His search leads him to Sarah Martin (Emma Coleman), who already has supernatural problems insofar as her dead mother, Bonnie, is haunting her and her father, Martin (a superb Barry Ward). In an effort to rid themselves of Bonnie, Martin contacts Rose, who reluctantly agrees to help, but upon finding Sarah levitating, she realises the Martin family have more serious problems.

Extra Ordinary is one of those films that has clearly been made with genuine warmth. Sure, the humour is fairly irreverent, but it's done in such a way as to endear the characters to the audience due to their imperfections rather than encourage us to laugh at their failings; the humour is on the edge of being sarcastic, but it's never cynical.

The film opens with a VHS recording of Vincent Dooley's low-rent TV show, with Dooley explaining that cheese gives people bad dreams because it's made of the same stuff as ghosts, and hence, they find it easy to inhabit. And this is the tone in which the entire film takes place. Later on, a major plot point is Christian's "virgin rod", a magical staff which points towards a virgin (although as Christian's wife Claudia (a wonderfully acerbic Claudia O'Doherty) points out, it looks like a huge **** To avail of its services, he must hold it up, whisper an incantation, then drop it, and it will point towards a virgin. He must then walk a few feet in that direction, pick it up, and repeat. And yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds.

The film doesn't rely too heavily on sight-gags, but a car chase that takes place at around 10mph is one of the most slapstick moments. It's already a great scene, but Claudia's solution to speed things up elevate it to a whole other level. And I won't spoil anything, but the "ginger werewolf scene" is pure Father Ted; an elaborate build-up that makes the mundanity of the punchline exquisite.

The single most hilarious moment is Christian's song, "Cosmic Woman", which is so obviously a riff on Chris de Burgh's "A Spaceman Came Travelling By" (1976), I'm sure he could sue for royalties; everything from the cheesy special effects to the instrumental refrain to the self-important lyrics. Comic perfection.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of smaller moments that stand out. For example, at the outset, a "based on a true story" subtitle appears before literally disappearing behind a passing garbage truck, possibly a dig at the never-ending spate of horror films to make this claim. Along the same lines is cinematographer James Mather's tendency to use overly dramatic crash pans, especially in mundane car scenes, whilst in one particular scene, he even uses that most dramatic of shots, a split diopter, except he does so in the most mundane setting imaginable. There's also Christian's driving lesson, where he spends more time putting on a pair of driving gloves than actually driving. And then, having gone all of four feet (giving himself a bloody nose in the process), he decides he's had enough for the day. Also funny is Claudia's inability to understand why the virgin must be sacrificed on a particular night, with her refrain of "just kill the b***h" one of the film's best running gags.

Extra Ordinary is a distinctly Irish film, but it's one whose self-aware brand of Irishness should travel well. Strong performances all-round, constant laughs, some terrific sight-gags, and a warm tone make for a fine film. For some, the highpoint will be Forte's ludicrously over-the-top Christian, for others, it will be the genuinely touching character beats between Rose and Martin. Irrespective of your preference, however, I would strongly recommend this charming film.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Roman1313

Mar 8, 2020

фильм классный юмористический на один раз посмотреть сойдёт

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Brent_Marchant

Apr 5, 2020

Wildly outrageous meets raucously funny and warmly touching in this off-the-wall paranormal Irish comedy about a psychic driving school instructor who's enlisted to help a widowed father save his teenage girl from a satanic sacrifice at the hands of a second-rate pop star trying to get hisWildly outrageous meets raucously funny and warmly touching in this off-the-wall paranormal Irish comedy about a psychic driving school instructor who's enlisted to help a widowed father save his teenage girl from a satanic sacrifice at the hands of a second-rate pop star trying to get his stalled career back on track. While the film sometimes drags a bit in the first half hour and occasionally tries a little too hard to land laughs, when it succeeds with its humor, it hits home runs with its one-liners and visual gaffes, especially in a series of ongoing successive blasts in the last half hour. With clever comic nods to horror classics like "The Exorcist," this independent little gem, now available for first run streaming, definitely passes the time nicely. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but, for those who like their humor a bit on the twisted side, this is one for you.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

geewah

Dec 25, 2022

For a movie about the supernatural and occult, there is plenty of charm in this dark and off-kilter comedy.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TejasNair

Nov 28, 2020

In this horror comedy that really gets on towards the end, Will Forte's part meanders a lot. Which is what affected my viewing experience. But Maeve Higgins (in her feature film debut!) and the overall jocular vein that Extra Ordinary follows makes up for it, giving you shoots of LOL comedyIn this horror comedy that really gets on towards the end, Will Forte's part meanders a lot. Which is what affected my viewing experience. But Maeve Higgins (in her feature film debut!) and the overall jocular vein that Extra Ordinary follows makes up for it, giving you shoots of LOL comedy (you WILL chuckle at least a dozen times, thanks to the wicked timing of some dialogues) and novel cinematic elements. Some scenes in here are as novel as the way the directors satirize aspects of black magic (Jarvis Cocker's end credits song is perfect), all of which are absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed Extra Ordinary save for the meandering bits that might test your patience a little. Grade B-.

(Watched at the 2020 European Union Film Festival of India (EUFF).)… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Mgsteele

Apr 9, 2020

Dull dull dull. I have just wasted an hour and a half of my life in lockdown over this.... Damn

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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