Well meaning entertainer caves in on it's devices

Rating: 6/10 (26 February 2007)

Charming construct takes pride in blurring the lines between tragedy and comedy, reality and fiction, tenderness and edginess to entertaining heights, although the mildly cerebral script reads more like an accessible emulation then bona-fide creation. Tweaking omniscient observational prowess, proved masterful in such existential triumphs as Adaptation and The Truman Show, Stranger Than Fiction manages to pack most of it's brainy sentiment in easy-to-digest, bite sized formats that will compel audiences each step up the twisted narrative. The movie gets points for always maintaining a healthy intelligence that's not too heavy or pretentious for less intellectual-minded moviegoers, but in it's conceptual lightheartedness, most meaningful characterization falls prey to the broad and borrowed ideas.
Acting comes and goes in waves of integrity, everyone did well to be in the moment, but some scenes simply work greater then others. By and large Will Ferrell's engagingly meek performance does not penetrate much of an inner reality, which may or may not have been intentional. Nonetheless, his noticeable but eclipsed performance of a sleepwalking taxman gets by with help from the great support, particularly in Emma Thompson's wickedly fun take on a creatively frustrated writer in search of some morbid inspiration.
After much amusement is had at scribe Zach Helm's involving behest, his unbalanced third act does not manage to ground much of the overly conceptual gamble. This leaves a pointed character experiment with many wonderful, fictionally transcendent moments, some creative special effects, but also an undeniable shallowness beneath the inventive posturing.