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)
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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Creator-chameleon Marc Foster has again chosen a subject that we wouldn’t expect from him - a variation on The Truman Show. And, as usual, he filmed an outstanding picture that is like all of his previous ones, although it trips up a little with the not completely kosher ending. However, this time this comes after such a gush of originality, playful narrative techniques, disarming ideas and visual tricks that it doesn’t really matter. Everything here is like clockwork - the actors is outstanding, the screenplay too and if you add to this the sure-handed and ingenious directing, it’s hard not to fall in love with this story about this boring guy, Harold Crick. Despite the ending which I would have preferred if it had come a few minutes sooner.
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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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Just as the current trend in comedies is to showcase the enlightening transformation of an cold office fish into a human being and throw in some chick as a bonus, so Stranger Than Fiction reeks of a spasmodic attempt to define itself against that type of comedy, even though the basic synopsis is the same. Indeed – a bored guy with a face, Will Ferrell, working in the IRS and having no contact with anyone picks up a tattooed, impulsive, left-wing baker, Maggie Gyllenhaal. How many times have we seen this – Fight Club, Yes Man, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Wanted,... Which sucks, because the main idea of blending a literary with a real character is actually a promising one, and the film is even funny and endearing at a few moments. Unfortunately, though, it somehow doesn't bring anything new to the table.
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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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Gallery (24)
Photo © Columbia Pictures
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