Brilliant, but . . .

Rating: 8/10 (19 November 2006)

Harold Crick is an IRS agent who hears a woman's voice narrating his life as he goes through his day. The woman is actually a novelist, and he is the main character in her latest novel. This is bad enough for the fellow, but one day he discovers she is going to kill him off.
This film is brilliant. The premise, the dialog and the acting are superb. The story is literal and allegorical and clever all at the same time. It's wraps a lot of different concepts together in a way I've never seen done before in a film.
Will Ferrel has truly made the transition into "serious" acting here. Dustin Hoffman, as usual, is amazing to watch, and he has the best lines. Emma Thompson has her character flawlessly portrayed.
The reason I have not given this film ten stars, is because the ending is not consistent with the rest of the film in terms of quality. OK, it's an acceptable ending, and it makes sense, but it lacks the brilliance of the rest of the movie. They should have come up with something better. Also, the Maggie Gyllenhall character was flawed; she starts out a firebrand and ends up a Barbie Doll. Unfortunate.
But these flaws notwithstanding, a great film to see and savor. The most original dialog I've heard on screen, and an amazing tour de force of literary style that shows a respect for the audience rarely seen in a tinseltown production.
P.S. Trivia note. The director went to great pains to make this take place in an unidentfiable city -- all the transit buses have nary a word painted on them -- but the opening scene has Harold getting onto a BART train! The rest of the film doesn't look like San Francisco tho.