Stranger Than Fiction is the story of Harold Crick, an IRS agent who finds one day that he can hear a voice narrating his dull and mundane life. Very quickly this voice, which only Crick can hear, begins to affect every facet of his boring life, even to the point of telling him he is going to die.
Telling you more about this movie would spoil it and I think the best way to experience Stranger Than Fiction is without knowing much about it beforehand. If you're anything like me you will be pleasantly surprised.
Directed by Marc Forster, (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) Stranger Than Fiction brings the audience into Harold Crick's world in a creative visual way that was simple but drew me in.
As for the writing, I can't say enough about it. This movie centers around the world of literature; Crick receives help from Jules Hilbert, a literature Professor, as he tries to find the author who is currently writing about him and whose voice he is hearing. These themes seemed to prompt the writer of Stranger Than Fiction to use intelligent and witty dialogue that is so often missing in movies today.
The performances in this movie are also very well executed. Will Ferrell is deserving of his Golden Globe nomination in what has to be considered his most understated and well acted role to date. I love Ferrell's purely comedic characters as well but this is the first time I've seen him really act and he did not disappoint. Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are also nearly flawless as supporting characters in this great story.
I'm guessing that not everyone will love this movie as much as I did, and that's fine, but as I said Stranger Than Fiction was a delightful surprise for me. I laughed, I was moved and I was most certainly entertained.
I put this movie on my 'Watch It' list and give it a value of $9.
April 3, 2007
Stranger Than Fiction - $9
My movie watching this spring has produced a series of surprises for me, some very pleasant surprises like The Illusionist and Blood Diamond and some movies that I expected to like and surprisingly loathed, like Borat. Even though I am a huge Will Ferrell fan I would have to say it was another pleasant surprise to watch Stranger Than Fiction and enjoy it immensely. I did not expect the touching and superbly written dialogue that Stranger Than Fiction delivered.
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3 comments:
cool...I know I would surprisingly enjoy this movie but I have no motivation to watch it. It will no doubt slip away into my brains world of the never watched and come up in a conversation 5 years from now while on some awkward date with a writer chic... "One of my faves is Stranger than Fiction", she will say. My reply will be that I had never seen it and no doubt will end up at her apartment to watch it. It just seems that's how these things work.
Actually I'm watching this now for the first time and am enjoying it very much. Unless they completely screw it up, it will be a very good movie.
I'll come back and let you know what I think. I didn't read the review so I wouldn't spoil it.
i completely agree with your review. dustin hoffman and emma thomson were great as well.
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