Stranger Than Fiction

Plot synopsis:
Harold Crick (Will Farrell) is an IRS auditor who almost compulsively measures, quantifies and rationalizes his life. Suddenly, he becomes aware of a voice narrating his life, "accurately and with a better vocabulary." The voice is that of a writer we learn is struggling with writer's block (Emma Thompson), mostly about the best way to make Harold die. When Harold overhears his impending doom, he takes action, and eventually makes his way to a professor of literary theory (Dustin Hoffman), who helps him understand the implications of the narrative life he is leading. The main story line seems to be around a woman he is auditing, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Realizing he could die at any moment, Harold begins to break free of his limited, orderly life, and joins Gyllenhaal in a romantic relationship. He tracks down Thompson and confronts her with the truth: if she writes about his death, then he will die. But Hoffman is convinced the novel must be written as intended, and Thompson herself is ambivalent. Crick himself reads the novel and encourages her to keep the original ending, which would kill him. Eventually, Thompson writes of the fatal accident, but makes the accident only near-fatal. "If you have someone who willingly, knowingly, goes to his death, well...isn't that the kind of person you want to keep alive?" In the end, there is an ode to Harold, Maggie, Dustin, and most of all, Harold's wristwatch.
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Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service, living his entire life based on the timing of his wristwatch. He is given the job to audit an intentionally tax-delinquent baker, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to whom he is awkwardly attracted. On the same day, he begins hearing the voice of a woman that is omnisciently narrating the events in his life, but he is unable to communicate with the voice. On his way home, Harold's watch stops working and he resets it using the time given by a bystander; the voice narrates "little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death". Worried over this prediction, Harold turns to a psychiatrist who attributes the voice to schizophrenia. Harold listens to her conclusion without giving importance to it. When he asks what she would advise if it were not schizophrenia, the psychiatrist suggests Harold turn to a literary expert. Harold visits Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), a university professor, and relates his story. Jules first comes to the same conclusion as the psychiatrist, as Harold's dull life is not something commonly seen in novels. However, Jules then recognizes aspects of a literary work in Harold's story ("little did he know"), and encourages him to help identify the author, first by determining if the work is a comedy or a tragedy.As Harold proceeds to audit Ana, the two begin to fall for each other, but when Harold refuses to accept cookies that Ana made for him on the grounds that they could be viewed as a bribe, Ana angrily tells him to leave, making Harold believe the story is a tragedy. Harold spends the next day at home to try to control his own destiny, but his apartment is partially demolished by a wrecking crew mistaking the building for an abandoned one. Harold reveals these facts to Jules, who believes that Harold cannot control the plot that has been set for him and should accept that he will die, telling Harold to enjoy whatever time he has left to the fullest. Harold takes this to heart; he takes an extended vacation from work, develops his friendship with his co-worker Dave (Tony Hale), fulfills his life dream of learning to play the guitar, and starts to see Ana on a regular basis, helping her to avoid tax issues by claiming charitable offerings. Harold believes he may have mistaken his story and now reassesses it as a comedy. When he returns to Jules with this revelation, Harold inadvertently identifies the voice in his head from a television interview as noted author Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson). Jules, a long-time fan of Karen's works, reveals that in every book she has written the main character has died.Harold is able to find Karen through tax records, and learns that she is presently struggling from writer's block in how to kill off the character of Harold Crick in her latest book, Death and Taxes, envisioning numerous ways to have Harold die, while her publisher has sent an assistant, Penny (Queen Latifah), to make sure the book gets completed. When Karen learns that Harold is a real person and has experienced everything she's written, she becomes horrified to consider that all of her previous books may have also resulted in the deaths of real people. She tells Harold she has finally written a draft of the ending and his death, but hasn't typed it up yet. Penny suggests Harold read the book and the drafted ending to get his opinion. Harold is unable to bring himself to read it and gives the manuscript to Jules to review. Jules reads it and tells Harold that the manuscript is a masterpiece, his written death integral to its genius.Though Harold is deeply distressed over his fate, Jules comforts him by stating the inevitability of death - this death at least, will hold a deeper meaning by completing the book. Harold reads the manuscript himself, and comes to the same conclusion and returns the manuscript to Karen, accepting his death. He spends one last night with Ana.The next day, Harold prepares to return to work after his vacation despite Karen's voice narrating the fateful day as she types up her planned ending. Due to getting the time from the stranger earlier, Harold's watch is three minutes ahead, and he arrives at the bus stop early enough to save a child on a bicycle from being run over by a bus, though he himself is hit by the bus. Karen attempts to write Harold's death, but is unable to do so, and instead claims the watch was the character that died, and that fragments of the watch helped to block the right ulnar artery in Harold's body after the collision, preventing him from bleeding to death.Harold wakes up to find himself in a hospital, alive though in traction and with several broken bones, with Ana by his side to help him recover. When Jules reads Karen's final manuscript, he notes that the story is weaker without Harold's death. Karen admits the flaw, although she points out that the story was meant to be about a man that unknowingly dies, and this was not the case.Therefore, she states that she would rather have the story end with Harold alive, changing the dead character to that of the watch which had earlier been personified throughout the film.

Tags: avant garde, fantasy, cult, cute, insanity, psychedelic, humor, romantic, storytelling, sentimental

Review:
I continually looked forward to seeing the film, and am glad that the great trailer did not reveal everything like I had originally assumed.The film involves Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), an IRS agent who lives his life by a very strict routine.
His writing feels vibrant and fresh, and in a film industry with absolutely little originality or thought, it is just great that movies like this slip through and get green-lighted.
"Stranger than Fiction" is the complex tale of a simple IRS man named Harold Crick (an appealing Will Ferrel) who one day awakes to his own voice-over narration only to find he is the unwitting main character in the new tragic novel from acclaimed author Karen Eiffel (an excellent return to form for Emma Thompson).
Imagine a Charlie Kaufman penned film where all the cynicism and nihilism is replaced with an endearing and heartfelt melancholy that creates a surprising amount of emotional involvement in characters who would've otherwise been over-reaching literacy devices, and you'll get a feel for the sincere type of entertainment Marc Forster's film provides.Forster, with his keen eye and eclectic visual sense, populates the film the sharp and contrasting visual angles, camera tricks, and in-frame oddities (like the play with numbers) constantly keeping the viewer engaged and on their toes.
Most of the audience are concentrating so much on the film's intricate hypothesis and how it is worked out, that only afterwards do we realise what a range of emotions Ferrell has to portray with complete seriousness.Novelist Kay Eiffel (Thompson) anthropomorphises things like Crick's watch (similarly the official website says, in real time, "As the cursor waited anxiously for the site to load, it couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of elation.") We sense a life-imbuing process that might even be likened to what an actor does with his character; but the film goes a stage further by drawing a similarity with the essentially lifeless, clockwork existence of the IRS auditor whose only escape is discovering love with Pascal.
Number crunching IRS agent and genuine loser, Harold Crick (Ferrell) one day wakes up to find his life being narrated word for word by burnt out writer Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson).
I saw STRANGER THAN FICTION (STF) on its opening weekend, and I think it's one of the most engaging, funny, poignant movies about writing, the creative process, and human nature I've seen since ADAPTATION.
Toning down his screechy/crazy qualities without losing his ability to make audiences laugh, Ferrell stars as unassuming IRS agent Harold Crick, who loves his job, so you know his life needs an overhaul!
As Kay's publisher sends compassionate but no-nonsense troubleshooter Penny Escher (Queen Latifah) to help unblock her, Harold seeks help from literary professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), an expert on the problematic author's favorite phrase "Little did he know..." It might be a subject especially dear to a writer's heart (especially in gags like Hilbert questioning Harold on standard literary devices to see if he's the hero of a comedy or a tragedy: "Have you been invited to a country house and had to solve a murder?...To find out what story you're in, I have to find out what stories you're *not* in..."), but I found STF funny, touching, and playfully surreal as director Marc Forster and screenwriter Zach Helm prove to be the new Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman, only with a touch of sweetness.
In addition to the excellent Ferrell, Hoffman, Thompson, and Queen Latifah, the great cast includes Linda Hunt and an all-but-unrecognizable Tom Hulce as well-meaning but unhelpful psychiatrists, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Ana, an anti-establishment baker who refuses to pay taxes on munitions (The Clash's "Death or Glory" plays in the background when Harold visits her bakery to audit her, only to be booed and heckled by Ana and her customers.
I saw an advanced screening of Stranger than Fiction tonight on the Sony lot, as part of the Merrill Lynch media conference being held this week in Pasadena, CA.I hadn't heard much about this movie prior to seeing it tonight, so I had NO expectations, which is really how I like to see a movie (without any preconceived notions, good or bad).The movie was very well acted, and told an interesting story.
For Ferrell, who's probably at the height of his popularity, this was a good move for him, as well as an ideal role.All in all, I really liked this movie, and I would definitely recommend it to friends/family..
The reality is that while he has his moments, Ferrell is the straight man in this picture, a tepid character who contrasts well with Maggie Gyllenhaal's anarchist baker Anna, Dustin Hoffman's Yoda of literature professor, and Emma Thompson's work as author Kay Eiffel, which results in the best performance in the film.
Yes, the title to this movie is 100 percent accurate: "Stranger Than Fiction really describes this bizarre tale of a man whose life is being lived out as a writer of fiction stories types it up.
In other words, the fiction writer's main character is a real-life guy.Emma Thompson comes out of semi-retirement to play the role of "Karen Eiffel," a writer whose novels always end up with the hero getting killed.
Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson all delivered some of the best acting seen for years.
Will Ferrell in particular has followed many comedy actors like Robin Williams and proves that he is more than a slapstick joker.This movie needs some awards, big time.
What might have been another slapstick, fantasy movie with cheap laughs à la "Bruce Almighty" or "Click" turns out to be a really clever and touching dramedy in the tradition of "Rushmore" or "The Truman Show".This is the story of Harold, a guy who's starting to hear a voice-over to his life.
These are some very philosophical questions and parts of the movie serve as a great analogy for art, religion and the meaning of life.All of the characters are remarkably well-crafted, particularly the literature expert (Dustin Hoffman) who helps Harold find out if he's just crazy or really part of a novel.
The film starts well with quirky graphics overlaid on the action as Emma Thompson narrates the life of Ferrell's Harold Crick, a stuck up taxman who doesn't live but exists.
The whole premise of the film is that Emma Thompson who is writing the story is trying to kill off Harold but as he gets wind of it and starts to live his life he doesn't want this to happen so sets out to change his own destiny.
Enlisting the help of Dustin Hoffman who is basically revisiting the character he played in 'I heart huckabees' the films few highlights come from the two of them trying to figure out what kind of book Harold is in, in a series of bizarre literary conversations.
At no point in the film do you believe that free-thinking radical none tax paying tattooed young beauty played by Maggie Gyllenhaal would ever fall for the old grey boring Ferrell, let alone start to turn his life around, even though they do say opposites attract.
I was sure - I've seen the trailer several times and I loved the idea the movie was based on: an IRS employee, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell has proved admirably to be able to play serious roles) leads the ordered, quite boring full of numbers and digits life only one morning to realize that he is somehow happened to be a main character in a new novel from famous, neurotic, reclusive, chain smoking author Karen Eiffel (great, great Emma Thompson) who always murders her main characters on the last page of her books.
I don't know if "Stranger than Fiction" is the best movie of this year but it is certainly the best I've seen so far and I wish it all the best when the awards season comes....As much as I enjoyed being in the theater with my husband only, I truly wish more viewers see "Stranger than Fiction" because it is a clever, funny yet moving picture - they don't come like that very often.9/10.
Harold is advised by Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) to change his monotonous lifestyle while he tries to find Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), the author of the story of his life, who is researching means of killing the character, and convince her to change the ending of the story.The surrealist "Stranger than Fiction" has one of the most refreshing screenplays I have ever seen, and it certainly is the best performance of Will Ferrell.
Taking the chance of working with first time writer Zach Helm (a gifted artist whose niche in the business is already secure with this first venture) and assembling a cast of some of our finest actors proves successful in every graphically odd twist and turn of this unusual, compelling and unclassifiable story.Harold Crick (Will Ferrell - finally given a role in which he can prove that he is an actor and not just a foolish pratfall comedian) is a boring, number obsessed IRS agent whose every moment of every day is timed to be exactly the same (with the important co-existence with his wrist watch!)...until one day he hears a voice narrating his life, the female voice of loopy and blocked writer Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) who is writing a story that has a 'Harold Crick' as her main character.
When the narrator begins to talk about ending 'Harold's' life, Harold freaks and seeks guidance from a literature professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman, in one of his most subtle and refined roles of his career) who knows Eiffel's work and aids Harold in understanding novels, be they comedy or tragedy.
Forster wisely uses graphic superimpositions of numbers and graphs and lines to show us the inside of Harold's intriguing mind, all the while allowing us to draw close to the needy and tender aspect of this nerd of nerds, thus making the involvement with his narrator, his girlfriend Ana, and his doctors and professor wholly credible.Some people (this viewer being one) avoided this film in the theaters because of the fear that it may be just another Will Ferrell bit of foolishness: over the top slapstick physical comedy that grows stale after about five minutes.
Precisely hitting all the notes in making an ensemble cast work, everything just seemed so carefully thought out without feeling contrivedthere is simply nothing to dislike about this film.Will Ferrell very successfully transitions from his usual screwball comedic acts to sincere, sensitive and likable everyday IRS agent Harold Crick, who falls in love with his auditee, government-hater and bohemian baker Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal, who just marvelously disappeared into the role).
Dustin Hoffman flawlessly plays literary expert Professor Jules Hilbert, whom Crick runs to for help to find out how to stop his life from ending as intimated to him by the voice in his head, while Queen Latifah was able to stand on her own as assistant Penny to Emma Thompson's eccentric tragic novelist Kay Eiffel, who is struggling with writer's block, trying to find out the best way to kill her lead character Crick.Forster makes everything so easy to love: his recurring themes of contrast and interconnectivity blend smoothly with the refreshingly original story, the immensely talented actors that quietly dissolve into their characters (usually very difficult to suspend disbelief with a stellar cast), thoughtful set design (all calm neutrals in modernist designs) and a breathtaking indie-rock soundtrack (said to be this year's answer to Garden State's OST).
Stranger than Fiction is multidimensional; it's not just a clever movie, it makes you think about how you choose to live your life, every minute of every day..
I should have known; Dustin Hoffman hasn't been involved in anything approaching a great movie since 1988, Hollywood stopped making interesting films a long time ago, and yet I was persuaded by the overwhelmingly positive reviews for this.
The way Ferrel's character reacts to it is stilted and unrealistic, in my humble opinion.Besides the life-narration thing, the story is the typical boring salary-man lives boring life, and we're SOMEHOW supposed to feel sorry for him and accept him as representative of a mediocre life when in an actuality he is quite privileged as a tall, fit, healthy man with a good job, and no responsibilities such as a wife or kids.
The film is heartfelt and it's about this guy named Harold Crick (played by Ferrell), whose life is the subject of a certain authors book.
Stranger than Fiction from Marc Foster is a great quirky little movie starring Will Ferrell in an against type role where he plays a straight guy accountant who suddenly starts haring a narration in his head every time he does something.
Stranger Than Fiction is a great movie with a well developed plot and a terrific cast that balance comedy and drama nicely.
He is also joined by the marvellous Emma Thompson, who plays a very complicated role, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has great, pure chemistry with Ferrell, and Dustin Hoffman, who brings in subtlety and laughter.
I have watched and re- watched this movie over the years since release (sometimes starting at minute 24, the entrance of Dustin Hoffmans character).It was ahead of its time with the integration of H.U.D.-like CGI elements to explain our main character's inner monologue.Will Ferrel is evocative as becomes Harold Crick.
One of my favorite parts of this movie is of course Emma Thompson being the writer unknowingly deciding his fate and Maggie Gyllenhaal is perfect as Ferrell's love interest.
Harold Crick (an understated Will Ferrell) is an IRS agent living a bland life of quiet desperation that's narrated by Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson).
Luckily, this isn't one of those "writer makes fictional character do dumb things" films a la Rob Reiner's ALEX & EMMA but a fun mix of narrative fiction and schizophrenia.When a psychologist (Linda Hunt) can't help him, Harold goes to a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman, also thankfully understated) who tries to determine what genre Harold is living.
So, I wanted to see what Forster was able to do and it's a really good work !I didn't know Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal at all, but they are great actors !
If I was to compare this film to another in acting terms, I would say that this is like Ferrell's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," except that I enjoyed "Stranger Than Fiction" much, much more than that, and so should anyone that watches it.
The acting was first rate in this movie, with supporting characters like Robert DeNiro, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Queen Latifah.
There is also the air of questioning where these characters are outside of their set spots in the screenplay- and Crick, albeit not without some interest is not really the kind of character I would think would make for a great subject for a book by a presumably well-renown, recluse author (played in the best way possible in the one-note terms by Emma Thompson).For the sake of Crick's central change from being very calculated, precisely so, early on, to becoming a man much more based on how he wants to live his life not based rigidly on structure- even in the structure of 'little did he know', which is kind of amusing as a writer myself- there is that sort of contrivance anyway.
As this is such a hard question to base an entire narrative around, it is a pleasant surprise to see that the film succeeds admirably, mostly due to excellent characterisation and a lean script that doesn't waste a word.Harold Crick (Ferrell) is an IRS agent who, for most of his adult life, has just been going through the motions without any feelings or attachments to anyone.
although it is a fairly serious movie, Stranger Than Fiction still has it's odd moments in which Ferrell still brings his usual funny lines and what were most likely ad-libs.
This film is excellent.It's a story about a man, Harold(Will Ferell, in one of his best roles), who has lived his entire life in the most ordered and planned way possible- he does the exact same thing everyday.
While HArold's quest to find a clear difference between the two elements seems to yield mixed results,it starts to clear things gradually to the IRS auditor that his life needs a narrative direction,and he may or may not have much time to figure that out.Directed by untraceable auteur Marc Forrester(unless YOU can link MOnster's Ball and Finding Neverland to this type of film) and written by relative new-by scribe Zack Helm,this movie would be oh SO easy to pigeonhole as an existential comedy or light drama,but it feels like more than that.
the beginning it's a kind of slow but suddenly the story turns interesting with a reflexive ending, (certainly it's stranger than fiction), about characters Emma Thompson was very good on her character, Will Ferrel it's not bad but it's difficult to detach his comedy background to this kind of character maybe another actor was more suitable to this role, Dustin Huffman is at the level expected of him.I certainly recommend this movie, and with justice it must win at least a recognition for that brilliant script.i really enjoy it..
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?
Although this movie is described as a comedy, I didn't laugh once the whole film, it was a bit more of a love story, which disappointed me.
Will Ferrell strikes again with a great performance as the main character, and so does the rest of the cast, Emma Thompson, playing Karen Eiffel, who is the unseen force or the writer that narrates Harold Crick, show once again that she is capable of doing a marvelous performance.