Ordinary Magic

Last updated
Ordinary Magic
Directed by Giles Walker
Written by Jefferson Lewis
Based onGanesh
by Malcolm Bosse
Produced byPaul Stephens
Starring
Cinematography Paul Sarossy
Edited byRalph Brunjes
Music by Mychael Danna
Distributed by Cineplex Odeon Films
Release date
October 21, 1993
Running time
103 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Ordinary Magic is a Canadian drama film, directed by Giles Walker and released in 1993. [1] The film stars Ryan Reynolds, in his film debut, as a young boy who was raised in India by his father, who experiences culture shock when he must return to Canada following his father's death. [2]

Contents

The story is based on the novel Ganesh by Malcolm Bosse, [3] with Canada substituting in the film for the book's Midwestern USA location.

Plot

Jeffrey/Ganesh (Ryan Reynolds) has been raised with the ideals of social activism as part of his everyday life. His father spends the better part of their lives fighting for social justice in India. After his father dies, fifteen-year-old Jeffrey is sent to live with his aunt Charlotte (Glenne Headly) in the small town of Paris, Ontario. Through several comedic situations and with considerable effort, he manages to make friends and fit into his new, much smaller world of his. However, when his aunt receives an unfair eviction notice from her sleazy landlord (Paul Anka), every bit of his background and training comes into play, as he works with her to put on a well-publicized hunger strike, or Satyagraha, which wins the admiration of the local citizens.

Cast

ActorRole
Ryan Reynolds Jeffrey "Ganesh" Moore
Glenne Headly Charlotte Moore Strepski
Paul Anka Joey Dean
Cara Pifko Lucy Smith
David Fox Warren Moore
Heath Lamberts Mayor Walton
J. Winston CarrollChief Billy Halstead
Mark WilsonMr. Harris
Denawaka Hamine Vani
Henry Jayasena Priest
Keith DinicolMayor’s Sidekick
Catherine Fitch Doctor

Awards

Jefferson Lewis received a Genie Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 15th Genie Awards in 1994. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Aladdin</i> (1992 Disney film) American animated musical fantasy film

Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Arabic folktale "Aladdin" from the One Thousand and One Nights. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay they co-wrote with the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Featuring the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, and Douglas Seale, the film follows the titular Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin, who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. With the genie's help, Aladdin disguises himself as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan in order to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, as the Sultan's evil vizier Jafar plots to steal the magic lamp for his own uses.

Road to Avonlea is a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, as part of the CBC Family Hour anthology series, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. It was created by Kevin Sullivan and produced by Sullivan Films in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Disney Channel, with additional funding from Telefilm Canada. It follows the adventures of Sara Stanley, a young girl sent to live with her relatives in early 20th-century eastern Canada. It was loosely adapted from novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery, with many characters and episodes inspired by her stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Reynolds</span> Canadian-American actor (born 1976)

Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian-American actor, producer and businessman. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen soap opera Hillside (1991–1993), and had minor roles before landing the lead role on the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl between 1998 and 2001. Reynolds then starred in a range of films, including comedies such as National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002), Waiting... (2005), and The Proposal (2009). He also performed in dramatic roles in Buried (2010), Woman in Gold (2015), and Life (2017). He starred in action films such as Blade: Trinity (2004), Green Lantern (2011), 6 Underground (2019), and Free Guy (2021), and provided voice acting in the animated features The Croods film series (2013–2020), Turbo (2013), and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019).

<i>The Secret Garden</i> (1993 film) 1993 film by Agnieszka Holland

The Secret Garden is a 1993 fantasy drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland, executive-produced by Francis Ford Coppola and distributed by Warner Bros. under their Family Entertainment imprint. Starring Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, John Lynch and Maggie Smith, the film's screenplay was written by Caroline Thompson, based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The novel was previously adapted in 1919 and 1949.

<i>Dance Me Outside</i> 1994 Canadian film

Dance Me Outside is a 1994 Canadian drama film, directed by Bruce McDonald. It was based on a book by W.P. Kinsella.

Rae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film Stony Island, and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film Quest for Fire, for which she received Genie Award for Best Actress.

<i>Aladdin</i> (animated TV series) Animated television series made by Walt Disney Television

Aladdin: The Series is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that aired from February 6, 1994, to November 25, 1995, concluding exactly three years to the day from the release of the original Disney's 1992 animated feature film of the same name on which it was based. Despite the animated television series premiering four months before the first sequel, the direct-to-video film The Return of Jafar, it takes place afterward. The second and final animated film sequel was the 1996 direct-to-video film, Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

<i>Bollywood/Hollywood</i> 2002 Canadian film

Bollywood/Hollywood is a 2002 Canadian romantic comedy drama film directed by Deepa Mehta and starring Rahul Khanna and Lisa Ray.

Malcolm Joseph Bosse was an American author of both young adult and adult novels. His novels are often set in Asia, and have been praised for their cultural and historical information relating to the character's adventures. Bosse mostly wrote historical fiction novels after the publication of The Warlord, which became a best-seller. The Warlord was set in China in the 1920s. He also won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1983.

<i>Tales from the Gimli Hospital</i> 1988 Canadian film

Tales from the Gimli Hospital is a 1988 film directed by Guy Maddin. His feature film debut, it was his second film after the short The Dead Father. Tales from the Gimli Hospital was shot in black and white on 16 mm film and stars Kyle McCulloch as Einar, a lonely fisherman who contracts smallpox and begins to compete with another patient, Gunnar for the attention of the young nurses.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

<i>Sabrina the Teenage Witch</i> (film) 1996 television film by Tibor Takács

Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a 1996 American television film adaptation based on the comic book series of the same name from Archie Comics. It came before the Sabrina the Teenage Witch television series and premiered on Showtime on April 7, 1996.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role to the best performance by a supporting actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

The Divine Ryans is a 1999 Canadian film directed by Stephen Reynolds, written by Wayne Johnston as an adaptation of his novel, and starring Robert Joy and Pete Postlethwaite. The film tells the story of the Ryan family, who run a funeral parlour in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Sarin</span> Canadian film director

Victor Sarin is an Indian-born Canadian/American film director, producer and screenwriter. His work as a cinematographer includes Partition, Margaret's Museum, Whale Music, Nowhere to Hide, Norman's Awesome Experience, and Riel. He also directed such projects as Partition, Left Behind, and Wind at My Back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. B. Ganesh Kumar</span> Indian actor and politician

Keezhoote Balakrishna Ganesh Kumar is an Indian actor, television host, and politician. Ganesh Kumar is a proposed cabinet minister for the last 2.5 years in the ongoing Second Pinarayi Ministry in Kerala and he is also the current MLA of KC(B) representing the Pathanapuram constituency in Kollam, Kerala. He made his debut as an actor in the film Irakal (1985) directed by K. G. George. He has starred in over 100 Malayalam films, performing a variety of roles.

<i>Aladin</i> (film) 2009 Indian film

Aladin is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language fantasy action comedy film directed by Sujoy Ghosh. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film was adaptation of Marathi play Pati Sagle Uchapati which itself based on Right Bed, Wrong Husband written by Neil Schaffner and Caroline Shaffner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Reynolds filmography</span>

Ryan Reynolds is a Canadian actor and producer who has appeared in films, television series, videos, and video games. Reynolds made his acting debut on television in the teen drama Fifteen in 1991. Two years later, he made his feature film debut by playing an orphan raised in India, who is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to go on a hunger strike in a small town in Canada in Ordinary Magic (1993). Reynolds had a recurring role on the television show The Odyssey (1993). He followed this with minor appearances on The X-Files (1996), and the television film Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996). His breakthrough role was as medical student Michael "Berg" Bergen in the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl.

<i>Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga</i> 2018 Indian fantasy TV series

Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga is an Indian fantasy television series based on the Arabian Nights character Aladdin. The series premiered on 21 August 2018 on Sony SAB. The series involves Aladdin, a kind-hearted thief, as he falls in love with Princess Yasmine, befriends a wish-granting Genie of the Lamp, and battles Zafar and later the evil enchantress Mallika, and again with Sultan Aiyyar Zafar after his rebirth.

Howard Jefferson Lewis is a Canadian screenwriter and film producer from Montreal, Quebec. He is most noted as the writer of the film Ordinary Magic, for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 15th Genie Awards in 1994.

References

  1. Bill Brownstein, "Filming magic on a shoestring; Despite little fanfare, Canadian movies can hold their own". Montreal Gazette , January 15, 1994.
  2. Christopher Harris, "Film Review: Ordinary Magic". The Globe and Mail , November 8, 1993.
  3. "GANESH by Malcolm J. Bosse". Kirkus Reviews . April 1, 1981.
  4. "The 1994 Genie nominees". Playback . November 7, 1994. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.