'Beautiful Tragedy'

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2007)

"What would you do if you knew you were going to die soon?", says Harold. "Do I have a superpower?", asks Dave. "Yes, you're great with maths and you're invisible". Of course, the first one is just an ability, but Harold is really good with number and the second is not a superpower, or at least not for Harold, who is so lonely and unnoticed that he considers himself invisible.
That scene of Marc Forster's "Stranger than fiction" is really beautiful, but it doesn't contain a touching moment; it's beautiful once you're inside the movie's world and you start appreciating its vocabulary. Essentially, Zach Helm's script is about Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), an ordinary guy who one day realizes a writer (a fantastic Emma Thompson, narrating brilliantly) might be creating a novel about his own life, and everything she says occurs to him; or everything he does she explainsNow you tell me if that's not a poetic connection.
What's funny is that Harold is indeed like a character you would find in a book: he counts the times he brushes his teeth, the steps to the bus stop and the numeric details of every place he sets foot in; he has a very special watch with a life of its own and he's not so good with women. He meets one, however (a baker played superbly by Maggie Gyllenhaal), and they develop a relationship so honest that culminates in a phrase that never sounded more beautiful in film: "I brought you flours"You'll understand.
It's a great screenplay, Zach Helm's work here; and I'll tell you why: it's not faking it. It's not a script that tries to make something real of its characters; it's just pure literature and it respects that quality. But this doesn't occur only in regular conversations, it also takes place during talks about literature. There's a clear literary knowledge in the way Professor Hilbert (a perfect Dustin Hoffman) says things and refers to life; and I'm not even mentioning the obvious references to writers and genres.
Now that I mention genres, I would have loved to classify "Stranger than fiction" as a 'beautiful tragedy', but sadly I couldn't; there's a moment where the story kind of betrays itself. It's still a great story though, and Forster's direction generates the perfect climate; and Roberto Schaefer's photography is as beautiful as in "Finding Neverland", with special light connections with the story I think I noticed; and Britt Daniel and Brian Reitzell's score is a perfect partner for the film's atmosphere.
And Ferrell is the best leading man. Even if he tried really hard, he couldn't keep us from laughing, but his Harold is so well constructed that we learn to love him with his clumsiness. "We want him", like when he walks decisively towards Maggie Gyllenhaal and tells her: "I want you".