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Movie Review: Stranger Than Fiction

14th Nov 2006, 20:43 GMT

Which came first, the author or the character? The obvious answer is the author — after all the character is a mere figment of the author’s imagination. But what if he isn’t? What if he is, instead, a methodical IRS agent so obsessed with control that he has reduced his entire life to a system of numbers? Well then you would have Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), the main character in author, Kay Eiffel’s (Emma Thompson) latest novel, and unfortunately for Harold, all of Ms. Eiffel’s main characters die. But Harold isn’t like any of those previous characters because with every strike of the keyboard, Harold can hear Ms. Eiffel’s voice inside his head as she details his daily routine. And it soon becomes clear that his life is dependant on the prolonged writer’s block of this morbid author. So how do you stop your “imminent death” when your killer is a voice inside your head? True to form, Harold starts with the only logical solution — He goes to see a psychologist. But when her only suggestion is that he must be suffering from schizophrenia, Harold finds himself seeking guidance from Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). According to Professor Hilbert, a professor of literature and Harold’s only confidant, the answer lies in determining the genre of Harold’s story. His advice: “If it is a tragedy you die, and if it is a comedy you get hitched.” And so begins a beautiful journey of self-discovery that forces Harold outside of his world of facts and figures and into a life worth fighting for. With a cast that includes such icons as Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, I approached Stranger Than Fiction with high hopes. I expected nothing short of their spectacular performances in Rain Main and Nanny McPhee and while both were certainly exceptional in their respective roles, it was Will Ferrell that really delivered. A good actor can make you know what they are feeling in the moment. A great actor can make you feel it right along with them. It’s the difference between sympathy and empathy and Will Ferrell nailed it. He became Harold Crick and forced his audience to see the Harold Crick within themselves. Stranger Than Fiction tells the story of what happens when a man who plans out every mundane detail of his life learns that his fate lies in the hands of another. Harold thinks he is in complete control of his life, but the reality is that Harold is a man controlled by his fears. It isn’t until he faces those fears and accepts that with life comes uncertainty, that he actually regains control over his fate and begins to live.

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