An existential dilemma? A plea to live life to the fullest? Who cares, it's great!

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2007)

Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, is about an IRS auditor, Harold Crick, who suddenly realizes his life is being narrated as the main character in a novel that will end in his death. Sudden knowledge of his imminent death results in the inevitable "Carpe Diem" approach as he breaks away from his number-oriented, regimented nature to finally live the life he always wanted, learning to play the guitar, and fall in love with the woman from the bake shop whom he is auditing, Ana, played Maggie Gyllenhaal. There are some genuinely heart-warming scenes, notably the "cookie eating" scene between Ana and Harold, and the scene with Harold playing the guitar for Ana as a slow-building romance comes to a climax. The idea of this movie is so fascinating to me, as we see the writer (played by Emma Thompson) stressing over how she will ultimately kill her hero, and seeing her hero trying to figure out if he is in a comedy or a tragedy (even at one point keeping score in a book as he initially fails at trying to land Ana). There is not a creative person in the world who hasn't experienced a form of "creative blockage" at one point or another. I think seeing Emma Thompson's insanity, constantly envisioning ways to kill her hero, smoking cigarettes that she puts out mid-way, really drives home the frustration, and then the fear that you will "get it wrong" as a writer. I enjoyed Dustin Hoffman (one of my all-time favorite actors) as the literary expert Crick consults to help him understand his predicament, who helps him bridge the gap between author and character. His constant coffee swilling and his chemistry with Will Farrell really worked for me. I just really kept hoping that the film would have a satisfying resolution, because it really kept a great premise going. I thought Will Ferrell was great--understated, not over-the-top. The film reminded me of Punch Drunk Love crossed with Being John Malkovich only I enjoyed this much more. An existential dilemma? A plea to live life to the fullest? A goof on the voice-over as narrative convention? I just really liked it: Something quasi-tragic, sweet, that makes people laugh--a great mix.