Stranger Than Fiction

Often thought of as the Will Ferrell movie for people who don’t like Will Ferrell, Marc Forster’s Stranger Than Fiction (2006) is certainly that, but it’s a good deal more. I remember seeing the trailer and thinking at first, “This looks really good,” then I’d see Ferrell and my elation level would drop to zero. The thing is that there’s a huge difference between a Will Ferrell vehicle and movie that simply stars him. This is not only in the latter category, but it’s a truly remarkable, utterly charming, funny, moving film on every level. Ferrell is actually good in it, and it never panders to the base aspects of his usual screen persona. The story—about humorless, personality-free IRS agent Harold Crick (Ferrell) who suddenly finds his life being narrated by an unseen woman—is certainly unusual, but then so is everything about the film, and you quickly accept the premise. It’s also no trouble to accept the idea that his narrator is a writer (Emma Thompson) and that he’s a character in a book she’s writing (or trying to write)—and that her books never have happy endings. Not surprisingly, things look grim, even though life would otherwise be looking up for him, thanks to his awakening humanity from auditing a pretty baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The question then is what does the writer have in store for him and does he have any say in the matter?