Extra Ordinary
Directed by: Mike Ahern & Enda Loughman
Written by: Mike Ahern & Enda Loughman
Starring: Maeve Higgins, Barry Ward, Will Forte, Claudia O'Doherty, Jamie Beamish, Terri Chandler, Risteard Cooper, Emma Coleman
Comedy/Fantasy/Horror - 94 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 3 Mar 2020
Written by: Mike Ahern & Enda Loughman
Starring: Maeve Higgins, Barry Ward, Will Forte, Claudia O'Doherty, Jamie Beamish, Terri Chandler, Risteard Cooper, Emma Coleman
Comedy/Fantasy/Horror - 94 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 3 Mar 2020
Martin Martin is haunted. His ghost leaves a warning on the bathroom mirror, “YOU MUST PAY…THE CAR TAX.” As Martin wonders aloud why the dog keeps rubbing his rear end on the carpet, a message carved into his toast states, “Dog has worms.” Martin’s ghost is his dead wife. She picks out his shirts and throws away doughnuts lest Martin keep ignoring his cholesterol levels. Such is the overall level of haunting in Extra Ordinary, a delightful film full of home run one-liners, pleasant characters, and a small town vibe which will convince the majority of the audience that we would like to hang out with these characters in real life.
The main characters in Extra Ordinary are stuck. Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins) lives alone since her father died, teaches driving lessons, but mainly to people who already know how to drive for reasons explained later, and maintains a plucky personality even though life throws its fair share of curveballs at her. The locals habitually leave phone messages requesting Rose’s ghostbusting help because she used to be her father’s right-hand-girl back when he was both exorcist and VHS entrepreneur. Martin Martin’s daughter enters a coma and starts floating above her bed – time for him to pluck Rose out of retirement.
The main characters in Extra Ordinary are stuck. Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins) lives alone since her father died, teaches driving lessons, but mainly to people who already know how to drive for reasons explained later, and maintains a plucky personality even though life throws its fair share of curveballs at her. The locals habitually leave phone messages requesting Rose’s ghostbusting help because she used to be her father’s right-hand-girl back when he was both exorcist and VHS entrepreneur. Martin Martin’s daughter enters a coma and starts floating above her bed – time for him to pluck Rose out of retirement.
It’s no secret why the girl is in suspending animation – co-directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman tell us who the villain is. Enter Will Forte (Good Boys) as Christian Winter. Winter had a one-hit wonder moment a couple decades ago, but swears he will return to glory with a new album. It appears the secret to Christian’s success is a deal with the devil. In exchange for a virgin during a sacrificial ceremony, Christian will earn another hit song. Christian’s wife unexpectedly blew up his last virgin, so he is in a bit of a rush to get this done – blood moons only stick around for so long you know.
But Christian is just as stuck in a rut as Rose and Martin. If it weren’t for being on opposing sides of the occult and Christian attempting to send Martin’s daughter to hell, the trio may even enjoy each other’s company say over a weekly bridge game. Rose’s father’s VHS tapes cover this situation. He saw it before in a gloating incident – Goat Floating of course. Viewers will not be able to keep themselves from smiling at these most innocent one-liners. Even though Extra Ordinary is not prudish, a highly-clothed sex scene does occur, it still maintains standards. Martin even puts down a boundary marker, “Killing my dead wife is not an option!”
Here’s hoping Extra Ordinary finds itself the niche audience it so richly deserves and achieves a sort of cult classic status. The jokes are quotable and I can see audience members pleading with their friend groups to take a chance on such an oddball experiment. What better way to help a sort of “keep it weird” culture fight back against yet another Ghostbusters remake. With characters as quirky as these townies, it can be easy for a script to stumble and poke fun at them, Napoleon Dynamite fell into that trap a bit. However, Ahern and Loughman care about their characters and small Irish town they operate in; therefore, do risky, independent film a service and make an effort to find and watch Extra Ordinary. There is nothing else like it out there and requires all the support it can find.
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