Stranger Than Fiction: An Emotional Roller Coaster of Fate.

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2010)

This movie, Stranger Than Fiction, is really quite simple. Harold Crick lives his life every day doing the same exact routine. He brushes his teeth exactly the same time every day, ties his tie the same way every day and counts the same steps to wait in line for the city bus. Harold had lived this way for years, until one day he woke up to a strange voice that seemed to be narrating his own life.
One morning, he awoke to the familiar sound of his wristwatch chiming. He quickly made his way from his bedroom to his bathroom where he grabbed his toothbrush and began his day. He had just begun to brush his teeth, when he heard a woman's voice. He could not tell where it was coming from. He then took out his toothbrush and the voice suddenly stopped. With a puzzled look on his face, Harold Crick started brushing his teeth again, but soon got interrupted by this strange woman's voice. He rushed through brushing his teeth and listened intently to this voice. Where was it coming from? He did not know. His wristwatch chimed again, signaling to him that it was now time to get dressed for the day. Harold wore his usual dress shirt and pants with a suit overcoat and a dark blue tie. The voice had gone away up until the moment he had started to fix on his tie. The woman's voice seemed to be telling Harold how to put on his tie. He looked around cautiously in his bedroom and screamed into the air "who's out there?" After hurrying through his morning routine at home, Harold then listened to the woman's voice narrate his life as he made his way down the sidewalk towards the city bus. The voice told him how many steps to take, where to step and precisely the exact time he would arrive at the bus stop. He was still thoroughly confused at this newfound voice that had seemed to creep its way into his every day life.
I very highly enjoyed this movie. The plot kept me very entertained and it was interesting to see how Harold Crick reacted to this strange voice that was guiding him. We were able to see his life go from an every day routine, to completely incorrigible. The story structure took a turn when Harold started to fall in love with Ana Paschel. I certainly did not see this coming and I don't think anyone else did either. I highly enjoyed the story structure as a whole. This movie keeps you entertained, while also adding just the right amount of emotion so we're able to really feel what the characters are feeling. This movie is full of emotion. Happiness, confusion, even complete sadness. Harold soon has to come to the realization that he is going to die, and this is when the movie takes a turn for the worst and becomes very sad. I was able to feel for the characters and this is one thing I really liked about this movie. I also liked the acting in this movie. The actors and actresses chosen to play these particular roles really bring this entire movie to life. I think Emma Thompson played Karen Eiffel very well. In this movie, she is portrayed as a quite depressed person. All of the books she writes end in death and she is not known to write anything positive. Emma Thompson was able to make her character seem dreadful, and have a look about her that says she just doesn't even want to be on earth. I also liked Will Ferrell's character, Harold Crick. In this movie, Harold is supposed to be portrayed as a serious character. He sticks to the same routine every day, does the same thing every day. When he is able to hear the narrator, he tries to go against some of the things she says in order to try and change his fate, which is ultimately death. After seeing this movie, I have decided that Marc Forster is one of my favorite directors. He was able to capture many different emotions in this movie, and that is what I like in order to keep myself entertained. He also seems to have a natural eye for picking out just the right actors and actresses to play the perfect characters.
Overall, I loved this movie. It had a wide variety of characters. From the serious Mr. Crick to the hard headed Mrs. Paschal. The plot line was very interesting and kept me watching intently through out the entire movie. I never once found myself looking at the clock wishing when this movie would be over. To me, this movie has a very abstract feel to it. I recommend this movie to anyone who definitely likes emotion when watching a film. I found this movie to be so full of emotion, I was stuck wondering how the director managed to fit them all into a two hour segment.