REVIEW - "Stranger Than Fiction" (2006)

I saw this movie at a dollar theater last night. It was the only thing showing that looked remotely ok and I wanted to see something for cheap. What I ended up seeing, however, is one of the better films of 2006. More than just a goofy comedy with Will Ferrell improving all his lines, "Stranger Than Fiction" is a smart, very well written movie with strong characters and a sense of purpose for all of them. And thank God Ferrell was actually given a script for a change.

The film was directed by Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland"), a director who seems to flip-flop between mainstream movies and independent projects, executes this movie quite nicely. Ferrell plays an IRS auditor with no life outside his work and endless days ruled by his wrist watch. The day he tries to audit an eccentric owner of a cookie store, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), he starts hearing a voice narrate his life. This voice is coming from author Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), a master of tragedy that hasn't written anything in ten years and has writers block. Her block? She doesn't know how to kill the main character in her latest book. The character's name is Harold Crick who, of course, happens to be the IRS auditor. (Does Eiffel know Harold is a real person? Of course not.) Harold decides to get help when the voice narrating his life says, "Little did he know that this simple seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death." I could only spit inconsistant laughter as Ferrell screamed in public, "What? What? Hey! HELLOOO! What? Why? Why MY death? HELLO? Excuse me? WHEN?" His reaction couldn't have been better. Figuring a psychologist isn't doing him much good, Harold goes to see a literary professor, Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), to see if this narration is one of comedy or tragedy.

In the mix of this bizzare story Harold decides to live up more of what life he has left-- This of course includes getting "closer" to Ana. This subplot is where the film went a little too close to chickflick territory, echoing a faint rememberence of another movie where the character has no life and finds a girl, "Garden State". The scenes with Ferrell and Gyllenhaal range from kind of cute to painfully awkward (And that wasn't the purpose). Luckily this film doesn't devuldge too far in to this relationship and the would-be chickflick remains a subplot.

The movie stays pretty consistant with the comedy, that is, nothing too over-the-top, but right for the moments they're presented. Ferrell really benefits from having a script this time and playing a slightly different character than his "Anchormen" of the past. It's also great how all the characters have a lot to do with the story no matter what their screen time is. Hoffman nearly steals the show, playing a slightly senile, doctor whom is guzzling down coffee in almost every scene. Thompson's scenes are the more serious, and albiet, shocking, of the film. We don't see all that much of her, but she makes an enormous impact on the film regardless.

The main focus of this film is the topic of fate. One that appeals to me a great deal and has been looked at in a lot of movies for the last few years. The question here is, do we or do we not control our own fate? Harold's life is bound by the confines of Eiffel's story and when he discovers who it is that is narrating his life he seeks her out. Once he finds her he asks if she could change it. "Does she?" You all want to know. Is Harold's life a comedy or tragedy? Find out yourself... The point is though it very much parallels Judeo-Christian situations. Perhaps one can not change their fate, but what if they ask (pray) for it to be changed? What if they would rather accept it for a higher purpose? What if there's a compromise that can be made? It's a very interesting narrative that does an excellent job of looking at destiny from different angles. And to keep in theme with this everyone in the story has a purpose. Eiffel's assistant, played by Queen Litifah, has a tiny role in this film; yet even she ends this movie with a new development in her character. Everyone has a reason; in this movie destiny assures it.

The film is a very well acted and written tale about, what the movies claims to be, a man and his wrist watch. The movie runs much deeper than that of course; while being a clever comedy, it hits on several points about a philosophically, controversial topic and gives Will Ferrell one of his better, and funnier, movies. Between this and "Ricky Bobby", go see a movie that was actually put through pre-production.

*** out of ****