Directed by:
Marc ForsterScreenplay:
Zach HelmCinematography:
Roberto SchaeferComposer:
Brian ReitzellCast:
Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson, Tom Hulce, Linda Hunt, Christian Stolte, Kristin Chenoweth, Andrew Rothenberg (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) lives a life of solitude. Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) can't seem to find a way to finish her latest book. Though Harold and Kay have never actually met, their fates are about to become intertwined in a most unusual manner. With her publishers growing increasingly impatient with her apparent inability to put the finishing touches on her latest novel, Kay is assigned a new assistant whose task it is to help provide the creative push needed to get her book finished and into the hands of her many eager fans. The subject of Kay's novel is a lonely and despairing IRS agent named Harold Crick, who believes that his life has lost any real meaning. As Kay continues to weave Harold's woeful tale without realizing that her protagonist is actually a living human being unable to concentrate on his life and career due to the constant interference of the narrator who inexplicably seems to anticipate his every move and read his every thought, her continued efforts to kill her perplexed subject finally provide him with the incentive needed to fully experience life by seeking out the source of the voice that plagues him. (Columbia/Sony)
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Reviews (11)
I'm pretty amazed at how overrated this film is. I was expecting much more fun, but the result is just an ordinary dramatic love story, cut with a quite original, but drastically underused, idea about a man who is both real and a character in the novel of an author who is about to kill him in the final book. Unfortunately, the central element is not used at all, and jokes are spared as much as possible – not only did I not laugh out loud once, but I literally didn't laugh once during the entire film. And that's quite a problem for a comedy. What I liked is the quality acting duo of Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ferrel has a very serious role, very unexpected for him compared to his current black humor troll work. All in all, it's a mere drama without a hint of humour or a more substantial use of the main idea, which, although going very much against the grain, bored me madly...
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"An amazing film," were the words with which D. Moore began his 751st review, as he was delighted to see Will Ferrell finally star in a well-written and directed film, even alongside Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, and would have gone on to praise him even further, but he had to do the urgent business of finding out who the idiot scribbler was who was putting together his own story, and beating out of him the one sensible reason why he was constantly forced to use tiresome, overlong sentences.
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Although I have quite a soft spot for Ferrell's frat pack rampage, his focused and artful creation is what most pleasantly took my breath away. However, it wouldn't have happened without the great script that even Charlie Kaufmann would have been proud of, and Forster's fantasizing, which managed to make even brushing his teeth an unforgettable experience... or: Shout out to Hollywood! Originality can still be found in a few drawers!
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The story of the life of Harold Crick, a man of extraordinary ordinary qualities who was the main character of a novel with a tragic ending, won me over mainly because of the performances Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Will Ferrell and Jake Gyllenhaal, the well thought out plot and the elaborate script. In short, an extraordinary film with an elite cast, which perfectly combines elements of comedy and tragedy.
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A fresh and novel existential love story primarily intended for nerds and intellectuals. Despite its relatively normal running time, the film feels too long and plodding. The screenwriter plays with the viewer quite well, but many scenes are unnecessarily drawn out. The uncompromising ending also fails to deliver.
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Gallery (24)
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