Timeless...

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2007)

Just finished this film after I rented it after excruciatingly waiting to rent it for quite some time. Since I first saw the trailer, I was immediately pulled in, as the premise intrigued me: What would we do if our life was narrated to us? Now feeling much better after watching this film, as it finally arrived on DVD in Australia, I feel content, inspired and with several thoughts lingering throughout my mind. This is how a film, in my own personal opinion, should make you feel. It should create a certain emotion, it should make you think and most importantly, it should inspire you in some shape or form.
Everything about the film I enjoyed immensely: The acting was superb, with no real irks or problems that I can see initially. Will Ferrel astounded me as I never would've have though that "Ron Burgundy" himself could pull off this role. With his monotonous and dull lifestyle as an IRS Agent setting the stage at the beginning of the film, his slow emergence from his old, drab shell makes the audience connect with Harold Crick, without making the film too sappy. Ferrel's Golden Globe nomination was well-deserved, I think.
Maggie Gyllenhaal was also quite good, as she always is from what work of hers I've seen. Playing a snide and cynical, yet good-intentioned and warm-hearting Harvard-dropout turned baker, I thought Gyllenhaal pulled off this role nicely.
Dustin Hoffman...well, it's Dustin Hoffman. I have always admired Mr. Hoffman as a man and a professional, his work pleasing me whenever I watch a film. As the non-nonchalantly, analytical and quick-witted speaking literature professor, Hoffman was everything I hoped for, and more. An example of how well he fit into this role was when he began in one of his first scenes, his character already knowing Crick's habit in the film of always counting things; such as steps and bathroom tiles, just by watching him for a few minutes. Another example is how he shuts down Crick's dubious thoughts on the questions Hoffman poses so quickly with such slick ease.
Emma Thompson was also fantastic, as I've always appreciated how she can play such a quirky and out-of-sync character as if she just slipped on a bath-robe. Her jittery, chain-smoking and frustrated character, drastically compared to her calm and peaceful, yet descriptive narrative tone, just puts a smile on my face.
With these interesting and engaging characters, the story flows seamlessly with no fuss or convoluted mess (I glare at Ocean's Twelve at this point) which creates a very delightful and interesting story which, as I stated before, makes me think. The film deals with the will to face our death head-on, and accept our fate with a smile and a determined glint in our eyes, as Harold Crick by the end finds out that he will die, and why he must.
This brings me to my last point. Near the end of the film, Emma Thompson's character of Karen Eiffel realizes that the character she has been writing about for quite some time, and who she was desperate to kill off, is a real man with a real life. In the end, she has a choice of choosing her original ending, resulting in Harold sacrificing himself and his newfound sense of hope to save a boy from being hit by a bus. Harold knows this will happen after reading the first draft, and is willing to give his life for a poetic and meaningful death, so that a boy can live and a great piece of literature can be published.
Eiffel's other choice, however, is the ending which results in Harold barely surviving the bus collision, with his ever-dutiful wristwatch, who seems to have a "silent" personality of its own, sacrificing itself, with a shard of its casing lodging into one of Crick's arteries, blocking the blood flow, causing Harold to live another day. She chooses this ending.
I think the film was also referring to itself in these final moments, as the director chose an "OK", yet happy ending (as Hoffman's character puts it) in favor of the more "great" and dramatic, yet meaningful conclusion. The plus side is, that the "OK" ending says something about life, and how the few second chances it gives you should not be wasted, and that a sacrifice to save someone else, whether it be someone's life or the perfect ending, is always worth it. The ending also has me chuckling, as it ends with a simple, yet well thought out two words:
The End.