Perhaps the Year's Best

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2006)

I admit that I'm a film snob. When my sister first told me about the plot some months ago, I thought, "Wow! What a great idea for a movie." I went into the film with incredibly high expectations, and I must say that Stranger Than Fiction far surpassed my already high expectations. Next to An Inconvenient Truth, Stranger Than Fiction is the best film I've seen in 2006.
I don't currently have the energy to write a full-blown review, so I'll briefly discuss some highlights: - When Harold Crick is sitting in his apartment watching animals eating other animals on TV, I was blown away when the giant construction machine claws into Harold's apartment, beautifully paralleling what is on television.

I loved the mention of all of the small things people take for granted that is listed at the very end (e.g., a loving embrace, etc.). This, in a nutshell, is the theme of the entire movie. In other words, we should enjoy life for its own sake and not be so overly concerned with the black and white life that we only think exists.

Even the film's poster is amazing with incredible symbolism. The period dropping on Harold Crick poses with it multiple layers. Not only does the period (dealing with writing) act as an instrument of death (dealing with killing), but a period also indicates an end--in this case it's both the end of a sentence and the end of a life.

It's the small intricacies that matter most in this film, along with a common theme--a theme we've seen multiple times (e.g., Life or Something Like It, Big Fish, etc.). Despite this common theme, it was delivered in an original way that maintained my interest throughout the entire film. It did so with a beautiful blend of comedy and drama in a film that was wonderfully acted by all of the prominent characters, notably Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
I predict an Oscar nomination for writing, but probably not much more (maybe a Best Supporting Actress nomination for either Thompson or Gyllenhaal, but most likely Thompson if either).
Movies don't make me cry, but a tear actually came to my eye after watching this. It wasn't the plot that did it. It was a real appreciation for a craft that I love and seeing it so beautifully portrayed that moved me.