Magic Realism

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2006)

After seeing your average movie, the audience departs with a fairly cut and dry, black and white sense of whether the movie was good or bad, and can point out exactly the high points, and what needed fixing up. And then every once in a while, along comes a movie like Stranger than Fiction, which provides no such easy answers. Don't walk into this movie expecting a typical loud, obnoxious Will Ferrell comedy  it isn't. Don't walk into this movie expecting a typical Hollywood story about change and redemption  it isn't that either. Don't even walk in expecting the most standard genre of Charlie Kaufman style "weird for the sake of weird", because although this may be a closer fit than the other subheadings, it still fails to encompass everything Stranger than Fiction is.
While it's true Stranger than Fiction does have a premise similar to the time worn story of progressive change and redemption complete with happy ending, the film is far too clever to fall into such trappings. Or is it? It becomes difficult to tell when director Marc Foster, who has proved himself immensely capable with such past hits as Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland and screenwriter Zach Helm are making intelligent social comment or self reflection and when it seems like they've lost control of their movie entirely and have little idea of what it is turning into. What should have turned out to be a quirky masterpiece ultimately ends up as less than such. There are moments of inspired genius, yes, but there are also unquestionably weak and uninteresting periods, which do serve to drive the message of isolation home, but in the end, a social comment on a boring life still comes across as well boring.
However, the film also may succeed more as a philosophical message than black comedy, with musings on the concepts such as pre-determination and fatalism (the philosophical banter between Dustin Hoffman's literary professor character and the nonplussed Ferrell are among the film's high points) which also come across as frustratingly underdeveloped ideas, since the concepts hinted at are fascinating. Such is the case for many aspects of the film  they are simply hinted at, when a more in depth look might have proved far more intriguing. But once again, all the way through, the viewer is given a sense that Foster knows exactly what he is doing, and there is a reason for the frustratingly sparse nature of such concepts. Or not. The film does indeed provoke many such questions and will without doubt raise heated discussions, but it's not the kind of powerful piece of work which changes lives  simply a quirky, charmingly unconventional and frequently frustrating self-reflection piece.
With a less talented cast, the idea never would have come into fruition properly, but with the ensemble of charismatic actors Foster has assembled, what might have been a very shaky film comes across as less shaky. Ferrell is refreshingly subdued as the solitary IRS agent, managing to infuse his performance with just enough sparkle for him to not come across as just as uninteresting as the character he is portraying. Maggie Gyllenhaal's character does become frustratingly predictable at parts, but she gives such a luminous performance we forgive her in our minds. But it's in the quirky supporting characters the film really draws its strength from, especially the always reliable Dustin Hoffman, perfectly understated as a literary professor examining Ferrell's predicament, and the scene-stealing Emma Thompson's delightfully quirky take on the struggling author persona.
Is Stranger than Fiction a masterpiece, sure to make viewers re-consider their lives? No. But is it an interesting and quirky watch, with a great cast giving charming and eccentric performances and moments of creative brilliance that carry the film through its weaker and more frustrating aspects? Yes. Should it be considered recommended? Yes, but be advised that seeing the movie having heard as little about it as possible would be a wise idea, as most everyone is likely to have a different take on such an oddball movie, and you'll want to keep an open mind.
-7/10