Quite a memorable movie

Rating: 9/10 (12 November 2006)

After huge success, many comedians feel they are atop the world, and as a result, try to branch their talents out to other genres (or sub-genres) of film. When it comes to a switch from the outrageous to the subtle in terms of the comedy, popular comedians such as Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler, among a number of others, have mastered the switch seamlessly. Add Will Ferrell to the list, who trades in the over-the-top Ricky Bobby get-up of last summer's "Talladega Nights" to take on Harold Crick, the protagonist of "Stranger than Fiction," which is, in itself, a fantastical comedy with streaks of drama here and there.
In the film, Harold Crick is a lonely, IRS agent. Hated unanimously because of his job, Harold has replaced the joys of life with numbers, meticulously plotting out every event of his day, from getting to work to tying his necktie in the morning. To put it simply, Harold lives a life of solitude; one that traditionally would not even bear a story worth telling. However, Harold suddenly gets a fantastical twist to his otherwise incredibly ordinary life: He has a narrator.
The narrator is Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), an eccentric, chain-smoking novelist who is suffering from writer's block. As far as she knows, Harold Crick is just one of her characters, and she is desperately trying to find a way to kill him off to complete her latest novel, "Death and Taxes," which may just end up being her masterpiece. After Harold hears a line saying "Little did he know that these events would lead to his imminent death," he decides to find out what's really going on. He goes to a literary professor named Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), who at first passes Harold's story off as nonsense, but becomes more and more convinced that what Harold is describing is really happening. All the while, Harold tries to figure out whether he is in a comedy or tragedy, most of that determination hinging on Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a rebellious baker who he first audits, but comes to fall in love with.
Right off the bat, the most interesting thing "Stranger than Fiction" does is break down the elements of story by presenting its protagonist experiencing them on-screen. Creative innovation is strong from the earliest points of the film, as computer-generated structures surrounding Harold show what is going on in his head. "Stranger than Fiction" clearly has a premise that calls for a large amount of applied ambition from those involved, and in most spots, the ambition is melded with the pure talent of those involved. The script, written by first time screenwriter Zach Helm, is consistently clever and funny, and unknowingly plays off the skills of its performers.
The acting is another area where "Stranger than Fiction" particularly excels. As mentioned above, Will Ferrell manages the switch from the over-the-top to the subtle very well, as he believably plays Harold Crick. He is appropriately odd at the beginning of the film, and appropriately advances in tone with his character. Surprisingly, Ferrell manages to draw high-brow laughs as well as he does the simpler, less mature ones he has gotten out of moviegoers with such outings as "Elf," "Anchorman," and "Talladega Nights." The Ferrell in "Stranger than Fiction" is much different than the one audiences have come to know over the last few years, but it's worth mention, as Ferrell shines in his third attempt of more serious acting, following mixed results from Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda" and this year's "Winter Passing." The other actors are on similar (or in some cases higher) ground as Ferrell in terms of performance. Emma Thompson is delightfully eccentric in the role of Kay Eiffel, as the actions of her character at first seem to have a twisted humor to them, but audiences soon come to sympathize with her and understand her intentions. A large part of Thompson's performance comes from the narration voiceovers, but she steals the show whenever she's on screen, as she does an excellent job with the brilliant-but-troubled character. Maggie Gyllenhaal continues her excellent year with the role of Ana Pascal, where she turns in a terrific performance. It would be a shame if her name fails to get mention at awards time, given this performance, along with her arguably more impressive turn in "World Trade Center" and her powerhouse leading role in the little-seen "Sherrybaby." Dustin Hoffman also gives a winning performance as Jules Hilbert, consistently getting laughs from the audience. However, Queen Latifah is unfortunately underused as Kay's assistant.
With "Stranger than Fiction," director Marc Forster has yet another very different film to add to his resume of very differing genres. It's odd that he chose this as his follow-up to last year's immensely confusing thriller "Stay," which followed the personal drama "Monster's Ball" and the whimsical tearjerker "Finding Neverland." Forster handles the action well, executing the very creative nature of the script and getting excellent performances out of everyone. Granted, it's not the best film on his resume (that honor belongs to "Monster's Ball," with "Finding Neverland" also arguably being superior), but it's the kind of solid, well-executed entry that a number of directors would like to have.
If there's anything at all to complain about with the film, it's the ending. It seems very Hollywood-like, and that it may have been tweaked for the sake of getting the best word-of-mouth possible from common audiences. But to be fair, it's more or less a minor gripe, and one of just a few things that the film does wrong.
Through uniqueness, it's clear that "Stranger than Fiction" is a memorable film. Though it likely won't be the box office smash that "Talladega Nights" was, it will likely be remembered as one of Ferrell's best films. There's lots to love about "Stranger than Fiction," and the film hits on target in just about every area.
Review posted by W. Slinger from http://www.boxofficefanatic.com