Engages both the heart and the mind in a lo-fi way...

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2007)

Stranger than Fiction is a kind of a Garden State for grown-ups. Strange but not over-complicated, or overdone: sweet, sincere, surprising, and original. Unsual fare that is highly watchable and definitely worth the admission or rental.
In particular, it's hard not to like the underplaying by all the actors: even in the moments where overacting would seem appropriate. Will Ferrell gives a performance that is much more in his Woody Allen style: small nuances, and an everyman confusion - even the compulsive disorder is played down: nice. As the movie develops the characters become more and more entwined but - and here is the clever part - every character is given enough time and space to make their delivery count - it really is a pleasure to watch, and like a great meal it is not the fare but the experience that really matters and lingers.
A film about life, death, fate, literature, and yet it is handled with a sense that this is entertainment for the more grown-up without being intellectual stodge.
The viewer is left with a very rounded experience - it really engages both the brain and the heart in a way that's all too rare - definitely one to savor and enjoy.