Stranger than Fiction

Released:  November 10^th, 2006

Rated:  PG-13

Distributor:  Columbia Pictures

Starring:  Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson

Directed by:  Marc Forster

Written by:  Zach Helm

Personal Bias Alert:  likes the cast, likes novel-style narration

9.5 of 10

            Harold Crick is a man who counts his toothbrush strokes.  That says a lot about a person, making it exactly the kind of detail that a novelist would hone in on when describing their character.  So precise and so orderly a man would be perfect for high tragedy or comedy, an idea that Stranger than Fiction toys with for the better part of the movie only to flip on its head.  Most of the movie does this, setting up ideas with two possible outcomes only to take option C, a sweet and steady route that goes somewhere between what you thought was possible.

            In the film, Harold (Will Ferrell) wakes up to find his life being narrated.  Only he can hear the voice of Karen (Emma Thompson), who is in fact struggling to finish a book that ends in Harold’s death.  Her observations seem to kick in just when a novel would start, i.e. just when exciting things start to happen in Harold’s life.  It’s a tragedy that it took Harold this long to take an interest in what’s going on around him, but the layers that get peeled back reveal a witty, love-struck man (he’s fallen for an anarchist baker played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) that could easily morph the story into a comedy.  These are the two options laid out for Harold by literary professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), who Harold turns to to figure out which author is bringing about his imminent death.

            The high-concept pitch that a writer is writing a real man’s life is one that’s been used many times over, but what makes Zach Helm’s screenplay truly stand out is the tone he manages to hit.  It’s on the one hand extremely literary in its wording and themes, on the other hand sweet in its romance and characters, on one foot light and breezy in its movement, and on the other foot emotionally impactful in its big moments.  Note that I said tone, singular, because all of this magically feels like one complete feeling.  Of course, the only magic involved is Helm’s pitch-perfect screenplay, which on top of all this makes subtle nods to scientific and mathematic theories without being in-your-face about it.  It’s one of the most approachably smart screenplays you’ll come across, laying a groundwork that would’ve been heartbreaking to see flubbed.

            Luckily, director Marc Forster applies a perfect visual palette to Helm’s tale, picking up on every beat and adding a little flourish to bring it all home.  The film is bright and warm with oddball little things like equations and diagrams popping up as people go about their day.  It’s a subtle nod to the fantasy world the film exists it, one that all films exist in but few feel so comfortable wallowing in.  You are, it says to the audience, being told a story, and it invites you to snuggle in close and be swept along with the tale.

            As if these bountiful riches aren’t enough, the film is bursting with a superb cast, from reliable stalwarts like Thompson and Hoffman to side players like Queen Latifah and Tony Hale.  But this is Ferrell’s movie, and the role demands a gamut of skills audiences hadn’t seen from the comedian in 2006.  He had to be funny, yes, but in a quiet way; the exact opposite of how he was in Talladega Nights and Anchorman.  Mostly, though, Harold must be timid and lovable.  The film, like the book within it, is about figuring out how to find happiness in your life, and its lessons aren’t big or grand.  To make the whole thing work, Ferrell had to scale Harold’s actions down and trust that the larger emotions of the film’s moments would ring through.  Never is that more apparent than in a scene where he strums a guitar, singing in a wavering voice that explodes into a moment of pure ecstasy.  Gyllenhaal’s reaction to his quiet bravery is what makes it work, and this trust that Ferrell and Gyllenhaal show in each other makes for a lovely spark of romance.

            Stranger than Fiction radiates a tenderness that few films dare aspire to, which all but covers up its minor flaws.  The hairs on my neck stand up every time the film espouses its final verdict on life, rejuvenating me in bad times and solidifying me in good.  What more can you ask of your fiction?

Other Notes:

Ø  Don’t miss the fun fact that Emma Thompson plays a writer and is a writer in real life.  See her Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 1995’s Sense and Sensibility.

Ø  Admittedly, not everyone else is as high on this film as I am.  Rotten Tomatoes has it at 72%, Metacritic at 67%, and IMDB at 7.6 of 10.

Ø  “Anarchists have a group?”