Stranger Than Fiction
Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 9, 2006
Release Date: November 10, 2006
When walking away from the film, It was tough to pinpoint any feelings.
Was it good? Yes. Was it entertaining? Yes. Was it Will Ferrell? No.
Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is your normal, average and everyday guy who happens to have a narrator dictating the direction of his life, and ultimately his death. Harold seeks out the console of a litterary expert, professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). Hilbert directs Harold to monitor his daily activities in order to find out whether his narrator is placing him within a comedy or a tragedy. During his everyday activites, Harold meets an attractive young businessowner that he has been assigned to audit. After getting to know Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Harold begins to take his life at a different pace and even somewhat forgets about the voice that has been narrating his life. The narrator informs Harold that he will die soon, and he begins a rigorous search to find out who his she is.
When walking away from the film, It was tough to pinpoint any feelings. Was it good? Yes. Was it entertaining? Yes? Was it Will Ferrell? No. Will Ferrell has been on fire. I mean he has been establishing himself as the leading funnyman in Hollywood, and business has been good. So why go dramatic? Because when you are a comic actor who is in his late 30’s, you kinda like…have to. Think far back to 1998 when Ferrell’s nemesis, Jim Carrey, switched gears on his career and starred in The Truman Show. For critics, this film was the definitive moment in which Carrey decided to take his career to another level. For fans, it was just another movie that Jim Carrey happened to be in. From that point Carrey began a series of serious dramatic roles that, love them or hate them, were genuine and established Carrey as an actor rather than just a funny man. Is this the same point in Ferrell’s career? Possibly, but i really do hope that he doesn’t turn his back on the characters that people have come to love. Ferrell has been making an effort to show his other talents in films like Melinda and Melinda and Winter Passing, but this is his first mainstream experiment.
While I do not love the film, I do think it is good and contains just the right ammount of everything a good film needs. The writing was good, and the story was fresh and original. I have heard some people comparing it to a rip-off of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. Breakfast is one of my favorite novels, and I can assure you that the film carries no similarity. One single factor that was going to make or break the film, was Will Ferrell. I think if anyone else was playing Harold Crick (Other then Jim Carrey), the film would not have been nearly as appealing.
Other than what I have already said, the film just left me indifferent and emotionless. While there was a small dose of humor, it wasn’t enough to please the masses. The story was nice, but ultimately the plot device just slowly rolled on to a somewhat anti-climactic ending. While Stranger Than Fiction may not be considered Ferrell’s best film, it will probably be referenced as a catylist that propelled him into Hollywood as an actor and not just a funny man.
On the Upside: Will Ferrell.
On the Downside: Not enough substance, the simplicity of the plot makes a huge downfall. If you have seen the trailer, you pretty much know the movie.
On the Side: Will Ferrell’s father, Lee, was a longtime keyboardist and saxophonist for The Righteous Brothers
Final Grade: C
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