Truly amazing!

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2006)

I think the thing that most people will be commenting on is how wonderful it is to see Will Farrell do something with depth. Yes, I know that "Dying is easy; comedy is hard," but I feel deeply touched by the quality of his performance. POSSIBLE SPOILER: I was tearing up at several points in the movie, particularly when he handed the ms. back to Kay Eiffel and said "I loved it."
I'd like to comment on Emma Thompson's portrayal of an author. I know a lot of fiction authors (it's my line of work and, well, it makes for good parties :D ) and I could see some of them in her characterization. It ~felt~ real. The self-absorption was certainly fun. :)
The rest of the primary characters were very good, too. Dustin Hoffman did an excellent job as an English Lit. professor. Maggie Gyllenhaal was delicious, bubbly, and the perfect yin to play off Will Ferrel's yang and, as always, I would follow Queen Latifah anywhere. Hell, even the ~sound track~ was good! I'm going to go buy a CD in January if I don't find one in my stocking next week. :)
I would love to see more of Will Farrell like this. Sure, I may be one of the few people who enjoyed "Bewitched"--though that was for Nicole Kidman as much as anything--but I think that the fluffier stuff he's been doing has been... well, fluffy. A lot of it's good, fun, light entertainment, but this movie feels like it may last for its dramatic value. It tells a good story.