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Stranger Than Fiction was another one of those movies that I was looking forward to seeing this fall—because it stars Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson. I (generally) love Will Ferrell, and I pretty much love any word that comes out of Emma Thompson’s mouth. So the idea of them together…it was like peanut butter and chocolate.
Ferrell plays Harold Crick, your average, run-of-the-mill IRS auditor, who does the same, exact thing every single day. He brushes his teeth with the same number of strokes. He walks the same number of steps on his way to catch the bus at the same time every day. But, one day, all that changes. One day, he starts hearing a voice in his head. A woman’s voice. And she’s not telling him to rob a bank or run through the streets screaming (though she does, occasionally, have that effect on him). She’s not telling him anything. She’s just narrating his life.
The voice belongs to Kay Eiffel (Thompson), a renowned author who hasn’t published anything in years. While working on her latest novel—the story of an IRS auditor named Harold Crick—she’s found herself with a debilitating case of writer’s block. She has to kill Harold, but she doesn’t know how to do it.
One day, Kay’s voice in Harold’s head tells him that his death is imminent—and, needless to say, that seriously freaks him out. So he tries to find someone who can help him find the narrator in his head and make her stop—and talk her out of killing him. His search leads him to Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), an English professor who tries to narrow down the possibilities and figure out what kind of story he’s in—and who’s writing it.
In the meantime, Harold—aware that the end could be near—begins living his life for the first time ever. And that leads him to an unexpected relationship with one of his auditees, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
Before I go any further, you need to know one very critical thing: this is not your typical Will Ferrell movie. If you go in expecting to see another Anchorman or Talladega Nights, you might be disappointed. That’s not to say that this is a bad movie. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s just different. It’s just not an outrageous comedy, full of gut-busting college humor. It’s a smarter, more refined, dark romantic comedy.
The role of Harold Crick isn’t too much of a stretch for Ferrell, since he still gets to be funny—just in a more subtle way. In fact, he plays the subtle humor surprisingly well—and I have a feeling that his performance will bring a whole new array of roles his way. Thompson is as wonderful as ever in her performance as a strung-out blocked author. Every expression on her face and every line she speaks will make you feel the pressure she’s under. And Hoffman and Gyllenhaal give the film just the right amount of quirk.
I couldn’t have hoped for much better from Stranger Than Fiction: a creative story, interesting characters, a fabulous cast. It really is like chocolate and peanut butter: if you like either one—and you’re willing to try something different—you’ll find the combination to be especially satisfying.
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