Dramatic success eludes Charlie Kaufman clone

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2006)

In spite of "Stranger Than Fiction's" several charming scenes, especially those between Maggie Gyllenhaal and Will Ferrell, it ultimately underwhelms with its own insignificance.
"Stranger Than Fiction" does not leave the viewer with any lasting impression. It feels like a Wal-Mart version of a Charlie Kaufman film, metaphysics for the masses if you will. Kaufman's masterworks: "Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation" and "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" are arguably as influential to modern film-making as "Pulp Fiction". And they are all light-years ahead of this film. Which is simply derivative without delivering anything new to audiences.
This Kaufman-lite for the faint of heart who don't want to watch anything too psychologically revealing has the potential to be much more than what it is: a light hearted stroll through the unconscious mind, with little more than a blue bird on its shoulder. Unfortunately for film-lovers, it never goes beyond its goal of converting audiences into happy movie-goers.
Although Ferrell is entertaining through out, it is Gyllenhaal who resonates in this film with a magnetic performance as a counter-culture baker. Dustin Hoffman also seems lost here in the role of a cutesy professor adding bits of schtick, as if it were left to him to pick up the comedic slack left by Ferrell. Emma Thompson's writer's blocked author suits the role well, but is the character most clipped by a gutless script. The appearance of Queen Latifa as her strict, corporate "unblocker" is bland and out-of-place in this film.
In terms of leading dramatic performances by a comic actor, the hat is tipped to Jim Carrey's work in "...Spotless mind". His performance in that film is a full-blown dramatic characterization. Whereas Ferrell's dead pan attempt at "serious" acting is just that. It always feels like a comedian playing straight, rather than an actor realizing a character.