Bizaar and unusual and yet endearing and captivating

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2006)

Stranger Than Fiction has a very unique concept and at first glance seems very bizarre and perhaps a deliberate attempt to be artistic and strange and yet for this film it works and it pulls off that attempt to the greatest degree. The film frightened me right from square one because of it's main star...Mr. Will Ferrell. I have never been a Ferrell fan and I find his comedy and acting overblown, overacted, and completely foolish so the idea of him carrying what appeared to be at best a dark comedy seemed nearly impossible and the idea of me enjoying it was up there too. But the idea got the better of me and I tried it out and FINALLY Will Ferrell pulled off a decent, believable, and almost emotional performance. On top of that the story is intelligent and intriguing and despite a bit of a tacked on closing to the film it's a very view-worthy film.
As I said Will Ferrell headlines the film as IRS Auditor Harold Crick who is a creature of habit in the worst way, to the point where he is nearly obsessive compulsive without it ever occurring to him. His life and views on life begins to change dramatically when he discovers that his life may be out of his control and spiraling towards demise which leads him on a bit of a self discovering adventure. Ferrell truly does try his utmost to keep the role serious but comedic in a dark subtle way. There a few moments when he seems to almost lose it but he manages to pull it back together and make it work. By the end of the film he has the part down to a science and almost moves you to tears with his performance. I would much rather see Ferrell do this kind of role than his Saturday night skits over and over again for two hours each time. Emma Thompson rounds out the cast as the overtly eccentric and reclusive writer Karen Eiffle who happens to be writing the story of Harold Crick without realizing it. Her fiction is his life and she is writing him to a dramatic, ironic demise. Her steady, strong voice makes an interesting narrative while her rather zany character makes her interesting to watch. She does a good job in a mostly small, supportive role. Also noteworthy is the amazing Dustin Hoffman whom I love. He plays a small cameo type role as the English Professor trying to help Harold figure out who his narrator is and what his story will be. Hoffman has some great lines and as small as his character is, he immediately adds points to the film for just being there. And finally Harold's newfound love interest is Maggie Gyllenhaal, almost the oddest choice for a romantic interest to Will Ferrell as you can get and yet they fit together and seem so right for each other, it's almost disturbing but their romance doesn't whirlwind by any means and unfolds gradually throughout the film and makes a very sweet romance.
The only previous work I had seen of director Marc Forster was 2005's Stay with Naomi Watts, and his incredible piece de resistance Finding Neverland. Forster has an incredible imagination and a way of creating such a unique world, story and complicated plot but somehow makes it so incredibly watchable. Stay was disturbing and twisted and seemingly so complex and yet you couldn't not watch it and Finding Neverland was beautiful, breathtaking and simple and yet tragic. I think Forster has so much potential in film making and Stranger Than Fiction is no exception. He puts his own vision into the film and you somehow become entangled in it's charm. Sadly I don't think Stranger Than Fiction will walk away with any Academy Awards or even nominations being steam rolled by bigger fish like The Departed but it deserves to be seen because it's subtly brilliant. It does have it's drawbacks. The ending is horrendously tacked on, it's almost a complete turn around from the rest of the film because it ends up being predictable and happy go lucky instead of tragic and ironic the way it should have been. Nonetheless for an intelligent adult film this is the way to go and to see Ferrell finally do something else with himself. 8/10