Review: Stranger Than Fiction


Will Ferrell stars as ordinary fellow named Harold Crick, who works for the IRS, and also happens to have an inner monologue running through his head. Literally. In more than one sense of the term. Whilst Dustin Hoffman, as a literature professor tries to work out whether Harold’s story is a comedy or a tragedy (despite not believing a word of what Harold is telling him), Ferrell is getting frustrated with his every thought and action being described or commented upon. This inner monologue, voiced by Emma Thompson, is actually the troubled author of Harold’s life story, and unfortunately, Thompson has decided that in order for this story to work, poor Harold must die. Needless to say, Harold isn’t very happy about all this, especially since he has just struck up a tentative relationship with tattooed bakery shop owner Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is initially severely unimpressed at being audited by Harold on their first meeting (she’s a bit of an anarchist and possibly a little bit of a sadist). Queen Latifah is wasted as Thompson’s assistant, Linda Hunt plays a shrink who wants to medicate poor Harold ASAP.



2006 Marc Forster (the overrated and thematically problematic “Monster’s Ball”) oddity seems like Charlie Kaufman territory (it’s not a Kaufman piece), but if this isn’t quite the equal of “Being John Malkovich” or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, it’s not too far behind. It appears to like its characters a lot more than say “Malkovich” or the overrated “Adaptation”, the latter of which I believe betrayed its characters for the sake of being quirky and self-reflexive.



Ferrell is excellent (both in the comedic and dramatic areas), Gyllenhaal (entirely radiant) and Hoffman are also terrific, and the film is both funny, sad, and very clever. Should definitely become a cult classic, alongside “Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine”. Scripted by Zach Helm (“Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”), it also has a little Douglas Adams to it, especially in regards to Harold’s inner monologue/author and some of the accompanying visuals, in amongst the Kaufman-esque weirdness.



Rating: B+

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