Will Ferrell's life is very Stranger than this type of fiction.
As best-selling novelist Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) struggles with how to kill off her main character, IRS auditor Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) begins hearing her voice in his head and slowly realizes that he must stop his own death. Crick's world turns upside down as he tries to persuade Kay to change the ending of her novel, all while getting closer to a quirky baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal) he's auditing.
Stranger Than Fiction surprisingly is not made or directed by Charlie Kaufman. Though it feels like another zany take on Being John Malkovich or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it's not though it feels more believable and true.
I was expecting one of those films about one of the big yuppies who are basically married to their job but then by the end he realizes a life that he could've had, but this film has more depth to it. Though the story is very whimsical it also has a great very deep touching perspective on life.
The only problem I had with this film was that at times I felt like a good portion of 30 minutes of this film should've been taken out. Mostly because it didn't quite feel like they belonged. There are times when I felt the film could've gone other places but instead stayed in one place and rarely ever go anywhere with this very engaging story.
It seems like every comedian is doing it nowadays. Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Tom Hanks, and now Will Ferrell are all going for the melo-dramatic roles, but I can tell why, mostly because they all work. Will Ferrell I thought gives one of the most honest but complete performances of his career and after seeing this movie it makes me think about him in a different way. Queen Latifah, Maggie Gylenhal, and Dustin Hoffman do well also but are not very well used but you can just tell that they are having a lot of fun with their characters. Emma Thompson also does a credible job at narrating.
The film is labeled as a comedy and does have some very good jokes, that will make you smile, but the screenplay is where it's really at. The humor within the jokes are very gentle and don't go out there for farce but also much of the screenplay shows some great insights on life and a very deep look on what you would do to make your life more miraculous. Some deep stuff!
Consensus: Very whimsical, but true outlook on life, with some great performances, though it had potential to be great just stays for being very OK.
8/10=Matinee!!!
Media > Movies > 2006 > Stranger Than Fiction > All Reviews
Stranger Than Fiction - 30 August 2009
overall: 8
My Review - 18 March 2007
overall: 7
While I liked the idea behind this film, I was a little less keen on the film itself. It kept my attention the entire time, but I didn't entirely like what I saw. There were some parts that seemed ridiculously stupid, but I guess they were meant to be that way. Will Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an normal person working as an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service. One day, Harold wakes up to find a voice in his head, narrating his life and thoughts (with a better vocabulary, of course). Despite what experts are saying, Harold knows that this isn't ordinary schizophrenia, because this particular narrator is trying to kill him! Little does he know that this narrator is actually Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), the brilliant author of numerous tragedies (in which all of her main characters are killed). Fortunately for Harold, Karen is suffering from writer's block, and can't figure out how to kill him. Unfortunately, the publishers have found out, and sent Penny Escher (Queen Latifah) to force Karen to meet deadlines. The plot thickens... Harold doesn't want to die, especially now that he's met the love of his wife, anarchist baker Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). With help from the strange English Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), Harold will need to find out what type of story he's in, and who the author is in order to save himself. Will Harold find the mastermind behind his life, and put and end to her book before she puts an end to him? I found that this movie was as odd and disturbing as it was funny. I mean, although this might not be the best way to spend your time, it's very interesting, and you should definitely rent it.
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