Restoring Faith in Hollywood...

Rating: 10/10 (11 November 2006)

I went through a period where I hadn't seen a truly great film come out of Hollywood for several years. Last week, I saw Running with Scissors, and was glad to know that not all hope was lost. That film was made by people who really wanted to make something with lots of value. And I walked out of the theater thinking, "that was the best film I've seen in years".
Last night, I went to see STF, and had to revise my opinion...IT now was the best film I've seen in years (the former, being American Beauty). The heart and soul of the filmmakers showed clearly evident. No Hollywood sensory overload formula, no grabbing big name actors simply to get people in the theater (Must Love Dogs), no bland or predictable script (MLD again), no overacting (Crash), no red flags all over the movie, that read "that would never happen in a world of fiction" (Crash again) (if you can grasp what that means).
Stranger than Fiction was stupendous. The flow of the movie was perfect. It was one that sucked me in, and I stayed in.
The acting was in the top 3% of greatest achievable by man. Will Ferrell's performance was perfecthe's one of my favorite comedic actors, but transitioned perfectly to a subtle personality, believable, consistent and captivating (even better than Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), which I liked very much, as well as JC's performance).
I was especially impressed with Dustin Hoffman's performance. Another great actor, who went through a too long phase of Hollywood formula movies (Outbreak), where the acting was a 2nd priority in the production. Mr. Hoffman's performance in STF was spectacular. Relaxed, fully submerged in his character. Besides everything else I love about this film, I want to see it again just to see DH's supporting character role. Truly, I think this is one of his best films.
But all the characters in the film are to be applauded enthusiastically. Marc Forster's direction left no leniency for a non-fully immersed moment in any of the actor's performances (bravo to Maggie Gyllenhaal). Emma Thomson's character was refreshingly odd, but not overdone  just genuine. Brilliant work by all involved in producing the character of Kay Eiffel.
The plot was not simply a single great idea with a mediocre script. The flow was smooth, and ended perfectly. Never once did I find myself with any confidence of how it might turn out. I had no clue as to if or how he would actually die. And Kay Eiffel's reasoning for changing the ending (no spoiler here!) was impacting and a subtle climax of the movie, revealing much of the spirit of the filmmakers, let alone a very intelligently written script.
I surely hope that Hollywood throws this title in the mix of contenders come awards time. It clearly deserves numerous points of recognition. This film, like American Beauty, seemed to have little concern for pleasing anyone other than themselves. They were far too involved in making something great to be concerned by the aforementioned.