Spoilers Ensue!!!!! AVOID THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2007)

Let me repeat: Do not read this review if you have seen the film. It will spoil an amazing experience. Go see this film. It is incredible. OK, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I feel that I have to write down some thoughts about this movie. I loved it. It was a really beautiful film. Every aspect of it was executed wonderfully. Marc Forster has proved again that he simply refuses to adhere to convention. He has yet to make two films that even come close to falling into the same category as the others. And in my opinion he gets remarkably better with every passing work. This is, with the exception of Dustin Hoffman, the high point of the careers of everyone involved. Will Ferrell plays Harold Crick as the perfect straight man. This is definitely not Ricky Bobby. The script is amazing. Laugh out loud funny very often, and it damn near made me cry when he got hit by the bus. I'm sure the ending has caused a great deal of irritation among many viewers, and generally I enjoy a good hero's death. But I think his survival was the perfect end to this film. His reaction to the book after he read it was a truly moving moment when he spoke to the author and told her to kill him. It brings up the question of weather its good to die for something or for nothing. That something can be as simple as dieing for a novel or as significant as dieing for a young boys life. What is worth dieing for? When Harold chose to die he chose to die not for the author or for the book, but to make the world a better place. Her book was something special, something that would be important and meaningful to possibly millions of people. And Harold is a man with no significant connections to anyone. In the grand scheme, his life has no meaning except to cause pain to those he audits. His sacrifice for the greater good would make the world a better and happier place. But as his author points out, a man like that should live. I truly enjoyed this film, and it is a shame it missed out on the awards last season. I hope I didn't ruin the movie for you.