Restrained and creative film even if it doesn't totally capture or convince in the emotional core

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2008)

Harold Crick is a simple man who is very much a creature of habit. He brushes his teeth the same way each day, hurries to the bus and always narrowly catches it on his way to his job as an auditor for the IRS. This morning is different though because Harold appears to be hearing voices  or rather one voice  narrating what he is doing as he does it. Unsure whether he is crazy or not, he is in no doubt the more it goes on and the use of a certain phrase in relation to his impending death causes Harold to urgently get to the bottom of it while all the time life carries on around him.
When this film was released I didn't bother with it because it did seem like "one of those clever-clever" films that are all very clever but perhaps not that great when you strip away the cleverness to the main plot. Certainly the one line summary (man finds his life being narrated by unseen author) did suggest that there would be a lot of the gimmick in this. When it arrived on television recently I did think that I should at least not assume things about it and instead let it tell me what it is like. What I found was a film that was slightly too clever for its own good but does have a heart in there somewhere as well as several other commendable aspects.
The "gimmick" (or device I guess) does create a solid character plot and I was drawn in by this initially and throughout. This side of it does work right up to the end. Beyond this we do have a story of Harold discovering more to his life than he had been living and also some things about the nature of living, creating and dying. Unfortunately it is this part of the film that is not totally successful because it doesn't come over as sure of itself and while it has its moments it doesn't flow thematically as well as I wanted. What this meant was that I didn't end up as emotionally involved in Harold or the story as I felt I should have been; the cleverness of it was never in doubt but this never slipped into the background to reveal a real strong heart  even if it did have heart. The "cleverness" of the script should not be ignored though (unless of course, you are the Academy Awards, then by all means just ignore it) and I did find delight in the creative idea and delivery. The dialogue is charming and engaging and it is picked up well by the cast.
Ferrell appears to be happy just doing sports spoof after sports spoof at the moment (the ABA being the most recent target) and perhaps this is because he feels he has proved he can act with this film. Certainly his performance is very strong here and he does it by being completely restrained throughout, bringing out much with small changes and actions. He is not good enough to "make" the film in the emotional sense but he is quietly impressive. Gyllenhaal is colourful even if she does easily get a bit sappy without totally convincing me later on. Thompson is nicely eccentric and she works her limited scenes well while Queen Latifah at very least deserves mention for not being a screaming cliché like she normally is and is happy in a minor role. Hoffman is also a good find and rounds out a starry cast, all of whom are content to do quiet, good work on the edges while Ferrell does the same in the lead. Forster's direction is mostly very good with plenty of good shots and composure but I'm not sure why the film had animation on some scenes showing numbers etc  it seemed to be half done and stuck out as such, like they didn't have the confidence to totally do what they wanted but still wanted to have it in there.
Overall though, the film is clever, creative and engaging. It doesn't totally manage to deliver on the emotional aspect of the story and characters but it does an OK job anyway. The performances are roundly strong, with Ferrell showing a restraint and subtlety that I wish he could find projects for more often. The "clever-clever" aspect is also restrained and controlled to prevent it ever disappearing up itself in the way some of these things do, although it is worth keeping in mind that if this type of film annoys you then you should probably check out now.