Reel and Unscripted Movie ReviewStranger Than Fiction (2006)
His Review:
Harold Crick is an IRS auditor who lives a very routine and boring life. He does the same thing at the same time everyday. One day, he begins to hear a voice in his head doing narration of his day. It is a woman’s voice with a british accent. He seeks help from Professor Julies Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) who knows a lot about literature and fiction. He advises Harold to find out whether he is in a comedy or a tragedy, and with help from a stubborn woman he is auditing, Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), finds out he is in a tragedy. Harold and Professor Hilbert soon discover that the author of this narration is none other than Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), who hasn’t written a book in sometime, but always kills the hero in the end.
I saw Stranger than Fiction in the theaters back in 2006 and remember it being the first true drama that Will Ferrell did and was curious to see how he would fare in a role that didn’t require him to be a complete moron. He passes with flying colors in Stranger Than Fiction as the plain and naive Harold Crick. His interactions with Ana turn him from a mindless drone doing his job into a man who can experience emotion and experience life. He goes from a character who is ok dying because he never really lived, to a man who is living and doesn’t wish to die. I love the quote at the end when Kay says as she struggles whether or not to keep Harold alive, “…But if a man does know he’s about to die and dies anyway. Dies- dies willingly, knowing that he could stop it, then- I mean, isn’t that the type of man who you want to keep alive?” See this movie, it’s worth it.
8/10 Stars – Wonderful movie with plenty of charm, heart and originality.
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