A compelling collision of fiction and reality ensues.

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2006)

If you're looking for a "Will Ferrell comedy" where he runs around acting stupid, screaming at the top of his lungs, and basically annoying the (Fergie's Music) out of me then you need to keep on lookin'. What I'm about to say will soon become a cliché, but this is a different role for Ferrell, and I happen to think that's a good thing.
Is "subduedness" a word? If so then that's what Ferrell brings to Harold Crick. *pulls out the dictionary* Cool, it is a real word! Just a slightly awkward one. Fine, we'll say Ferrell underplays this just enough to make Harold the sweet, innocent hero that he is required to be for us to cheer for him to find that alternate ending. Better?
Harold seems like a tough guy not to like. Until you find out he's a tax man. Plus, he's a little obsessive. He counts the strokes when he's brushing his teeth. He knows the exact number of steps he must take to reach the bus every morning. He takes a 45.7-minute lunch break and a 4.3-minute coffee break. Everything is a routine, and he relies on his wristwatch to keep him on track.
Contrast that with the woman he's sent to audit - the tax-evadin', anarchy-lovin' bakery owner Ana Pascal (played by the extremely personable Maggie Gyllenhaal). It's a match made seemingly, well, not in Heaven, so when they start to have feelings for each other you really don't expect to buy it. But you know what? It works! The romance is simple and subtle, and surprisingly believable.
But the meat of the story, the ol' sauce on the steak as grandpa used to say, revolves around Harold's efforts to figure out from whence the voice in his head is coming. Whereas I'm about to initiate some efforts to find out why I just used "from whence." Harold really needs to figure out what to do once he hears her talk about his death. Is his life a comedy or a tragedy? Can he change his fate, or should he resign himself to accepting what appears to be inevitable?
I can hear you now (you crazy voice in my head!) - how do you take a story about a real-life man who slowly learns his life is some weird product of fiction and make it work? How do you deliver a satisfying ending to such a perplexing structure? Well, I had the same questions. I didn't know if it'd pull it off, but it does, and all I can say, without giving too much away, is the proof is in the viewing.
A viewing experience that is unique in how it takes so many elements of different genres and figures out how to make them work together. There are laughs, there's drama, there's fantasy, and as I mentioned earlier, there's a little romance as well. In fact...
*puts down man card*
Ferrell gives Gyllenhaal a gift that inspired the most amount of "awwwwws" from the audience that I've heard at a movie this year. I have to admit, it really is a sweet moment.
*picks up man card*
I liked the structure of the story, and Emma Thompson's narration is handled in such a way that it adds a little mystery and keeps you guessing how the story will wrap. I was even impressed with some of the visuals in the film, specifically the manifestations of the numerical analyses in Harold's mind.
The first 2/3rds of the movie set everything up so well that I was really scared of a disappointing payoff. I wasn't necessarily rooting for a "happy" ending; I simply wanted a satisfying one. If it were true that Harold must die for the book to be Emma's masterpiece, then sell me on it. However, if Emma could figure out an alternate ending, then sell me on that.
As always, I won't reveal what happens. I recommend you watch it and find out on your own. So I'll just sum up my final opinion this way - sold.
THE GIST
You might be disappointed if you want another over-the-top Will Ferrell comedy. However, those of you in the mood for a less annoying side of Ferrell, a mix of drama and comedy, and something a little different and inspiring should consider giving Stranger than Fiction a chance.