Stranger Than Fiction

In a feat of performing imagination, Ferrell turns his usual extroversion inside out and his usual zaniness into precision, and makes it all work for him.

With a track record that stretches from "Monster's Ball" all the way to "Finding Neverland," Forster is clearly a director at ease with a wide range of material. He's found confection-land here, setting his beater on ready-whip and mixing the dough just fine.

It has a nifty premise and outstanding performances from Ferrell, as the protagonist-in-progress, and Emma Thompson, as his blocked creator.

An oddly sweet little tale, and easily Ferrell’s most enjoyable movie in recent memory. And even though his onscreen chemistry with Gyllenhaal fills me with murderous rage, this film goes a long way towards erasing the memory of his more obnoxious roles.

Sometimes becomes too self-consciously clever, and it doesn't entirely resolve its own central dilemma. But it remains inventive and funny to the end, features fine performances from Will Ferrell and especially Emma Thompson.

A boldly original undertaking: It's the first movie ever to come up with the idea of remaking "The Truman Show."

Watching the movie made me long for the big , risky ideas and entertainingly fearless filmmaking in David O. Russell's "I Heart Huckabees " and Spike Jonze's "Adaptation ," which Kaufman wrote. Both were similarly conceptual escapades, but they let it all hang out.

Realy awesome film, that something new in film industry! Most emmotional film for last year!

Stranger Than Fiction is a great comedy/drama film done very well by Will Farrell.

Will Ferrell hits both sides of the scale as Harold Crick; a stiff, no-fun IRS auditor who loses his grip, loosens up and eventually finds happiness. Crick is a loner by choice, strictly obeying a tight daily routine (even counting his toothbrush strokes) because he’s a numbers guy who relishes conformity and loathes surprises. That changes when he starts hearing voices. Actually, just one voice: a storybook narrator who breaks his rhythm, drives him to uncharacteristic mistakes and softly drops hints about a premature death. That’s an interesting concept, particularly when Harold seeks help from a flaky psychiatrist/literary expert (Dustin Hoffman, in a well-suited but limited supporting role), but one that loses momentum as it’s probed and explored. This is a mystery that would’ve been far more interesting as a lightly-explained device and/or allegory. Instead, we get it all spelled out in neat typesetting. While he deals with the disruptive narrator, Harold’s life is thrown into further disarray by a spark of romance. He doesn’t get off on the right foot with Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a cute baker who’s been leaving her business taxes intentionally unpaid as a form of silent protest. She’s a fight-the-power independent type and he’s a happy cog in the establishment’s machine, but opposites do sometimes attract and she eventually recognizes a playful spirit in him, fighting to break out and try something new. This development is highlighted by a creatively-framed sequence aboard an articulated bus; seated characters move in and out of each other’s field of vision as their awkward conversation weaves from approval to dismissal and back again. Will they or won’t they? I guess it depends on where, and how, their ride finally stops. Ultimately, they prove to be a sweet couple, and a few effective soundtrack cuts underscore the charming clumsiness of their initial hookup, but their connection never really seems as permanent as the story wants us to think. They race from light flirtation to adoring cohabitation because the plot dictates, and because it’s coming time for his dance with fate, not because it feels earned or natural. Stranger Than Fiction works, but it doesn’t overachieve. Its character is strong, pairing a whimsical mood with a pertinent sense of big-city claustrophobia, but its metaphors don’t always land and its dreamy conceit feels humdrum and unspectacular by the end. Ferrell is good, flexing a few nuanced instincts that are completely ignored in the rest of his filmography. The rest of the story is light by comparison.

Kind of a weird movie, still ok. A woman is writing a novel, but Will Ferrell can hear everything she's writing about in his head. Also whatever the woman writes about him happens to him for real.

It is a good watch, not amazing but definitely not a waste of time. Overall just a decent film.