Stranger than real life

Rating: 9/10 (31 May 2007)

**Some Spoilers** Harold Crick is an IRS agent who comes to the realization, by hearing a narrator's voice in his head, that he is a character in a novel. He then finds out that he is going to be killed in the story. He tries to find the author and urge them to change the story.
The movie is a combination of drama and comedy, with a touch of "rubber reality" (examples: Vanilla Sky, Jacobs Ladder) thrown in. I do not like traditional Will Ferrell movies because he always seems to play a buffoon and his comedies seem to appeal to the lowest common denominator in our society. However, Stranger Than Fiction appealed to me and seeing the movie, paid off. Will Ferrell is great in this movie. He plays a straight-forward character who has a very ordered life that he finds is suddenly turned upside down. So completely different from the buffoon characters from other movies, Will Ferrell manages to be serious and genuinely funny, but without going over the top. By the end of the movie, I felt sympathetic and empathic towards the character of Harold Click.
Supporting characters/actors were great as well and really hit the mark. Dustin Hoffman was great as the literary professor that tries to help Harold understand the issue of finding oneself a character in an, as yet, uncompleted novel. Emma Thompson is great as the writer-blocked author that has trouble deciding how to complete the book. Queen Latifah (another actress whom I do not like most of the movies she is in), does a great job as the assistant hired to help the author. Maggie Gyllenhaal does a good job as Anna. However, Anna is a somewhat a clichéd character: She is a wanted-to-be lawyer that instead opened a bakery store thinking she could help others better that way. How many movies have female characters (especially love interests) that are "good natured, loving people", simply because they are female? A lot.
It is difficult to point out the main *good* aspect of this movie without spoiling something. Therefore, I would urge a review reader to just go and see the movie. If you want more insight, but this may spoil the end, keep reading.
During the course of the movie, it is difficult to determine where it is heading (I mean this in a good way!). As the character Harold tries to determine about his own life, it is difficult to determine if the movie will continue/end as a tragedy (hero dies) or comedy. Without giving everything away, I will say this: The movie ends in a touching, feel-good type of way that made me feel emotional *long* after the movie ended. :) The movie ends in such a way that when the movie ends, you will look around and think, "Hey! Maybe life really isn't that bad."
I rated this movie 9 out of 10.