Stranger Than Fiction (1 Viewer)

I finally watched the trailer for this the other day - and wow, I have to admit I am intrigued. It really looks *good* - funny, yes, but genuine it looks like - I really like any sort of narrative within a narrative kind of things (Thursday Next books rule!), and I haven't seen one that goes for this kind of angle in a while.

You know - I really like Will Ferrell a lot. I think he's a good actor (honest, I do - and apart from the slapstick stuff.) I feel like he is really good and was just waiting for the right thing to show that off. I hope that this movie is it. It seems very original and different - I like that about it. And it sure does have a lot of great people in the cast.

Anybody got an opinion on this one?

Reaction at Toronto was through the roof positive. I definitely think it looks terrific.

Really? That's awesome! What did they say, do you know, in Toronto?

I think it looks really funny - but not in that slapstick funny way, it looks funny and smart, if that makes sense? I'm really curious to see how it all plays out. (I fear because it's all about narrative, whether its narrative technique in fiction or the narrative of your life, that I am going to super geek out over it, because there are a lot of layers there, but I will merely say I'm looking forward to it, at present. )

Bumping to post this amazing review from Ain't it Cool - all I can say is wow, this sounds even better than I was expecting!

Check it out: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30512

Saw this a couple of weeks ago...

Although not as commerical as one might think this pic is very, very good...

It is (IMO) Will Ferrell best film to date...

He truly shines as an actor instead of a comedy talent.

Dugger

I, for one, can't stomach Will Ferrell, but the trailer for this movie has me intrigued.

Totally different role here....

Nothing like he's done before.....

That is great to hear, Chris.

I am sure that I will pay to see this one.

Will Ferrell just reminds me too much of Jim Carrey. I will not pay to see any of Carrey's comedies anymore, but am more than willing to throw down the money for his serious roles.

That's why I'm so psyched for this - I love to see actors stretch themselves, and this looks funny, yes, but in a more adult way than a "typical" Will Ferrell movie, so I think it'll appeal to a broader range of moviegoers. I've been seeing some awards buzz lately for this too - Ferrell's performance must really be good. I hope he gets some respect for it, at last!

I also checked out the official site for the movie - which is really cute - Emma Thompson's voice navigates you around it, like you are in one of her stories yourself. I looooooove the meta-ness of it, the narrative within narrative thing. So awesome.

I wanted to like this film more, but it's dry, like eating cookies without milk. The film moves at a decent pace, but maybe too leisurely. The writing felt less inspired as I had anticipated after seeing the premise from the trailer.

This first foray into drama for Will Farrell is more miss than hit for me. Maggie Gyllenhaal is actually a nice change of pace during her screen time. Dustin Hoffman is okay, Queen Latifah had virtually nothing of import in her scenes, and Emma Thompson is good, but not dazzling in her role as the writer.

It's worth a matinee if you found the premise interesting, but that's about it.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

I also liked Maggie Gyllenhaal a lot here compared to the other characters. Thompson doing the narration during Farrell's normal life provides some good laughs, but her as a character was without any interest. The narration over Farrell was obviously the key idea of the movie, and you can feel the wrtiers spending the most time thinking about how to write those lines, and not so much on the others.

I thought the movie was great up to and through the sex after the guitar scene. One of the best executed romances I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, once they did the deed, there was no new ground covered.
I didn't like the direction the second half took as much. While the bus scene with the manuscript was great, I thought the ending left something to be desired. The bit with him in the full body cast after being hit by the bus
went slapstick when I felt the film should be serious. While the point at the end with Karen being alright with the okay ending was intellectually satisfying, I don't feel like it was enough for the movie. I would have had (yes, those very dangerous words...)Karen finish the book as written on her death bed years later, thus insuring the integrity of her masterpiece while giving Harold and his baker woman a long happy life together.

The most dramatically satisfying role for Ferrell since Winter Passing, my favorite Maggie Gyllenhaal role (a more maternal version of the tender roles Zooey Deschanel originated to great success with Ferrell), and my favorite Thompson role in recent memory. There's a lot to like here. I just wish it'd ended on a bang instead of a fizzle.

Yeah, Adam, that could have worked from a storyline standpoint, but it would have messed with the film's larger theme of destiny/fate vs. free will.

Basically, who's to say that events would or would not have enfolded the way they did had Karen finished the book or not? Or more importantly, whereas it appeared Karen was controlling Harold's life, who would/could be controlling Karen's? Did she have free will where Harold was controlled by destiny?

For me, theme was much more important than story in this film, and I loved it.

Both my girlfriend and myself went and saw this movie over the weekend, we absolutely adored this movie. It was her favorite film of the year. While the ending could have been a tad cleaner, they just could have said the watch was the hero of the film who died
, it was still one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.

It struck me as a good version of "Adaptation", a movie didn't do anything for me.

My wife and I saw this last night. Not at all what I expected, but very effective. If you are going to see Will Ferrell run around in his underwear while yelling like a madman, you have come to the wrong movie.

I am a huge fan of all of Will's work. I don't care if you think slapstick humor is rediculous. I will openly admit that movie's like Anchor Man, Old School, and Ricky Bobby had me rolling on the ground, and later quoting them with anyone who would listen.

The great thing about Ferrell imo is that he is truly a GREAT actor. His expressions and timing are excellent in this film, and he displays a very pure ability to make you feel for his character, and understand the emotions he is portraying via Harold Crick. I believe he has the rare ability to transcend his slapstick comedy routes, and is capable of much more. Much better than Jim Carrey imo in the tougher roles.

I was surprised that I enjoyed a movie this SLOW, but I found it to be a breath of fresh air. The clever writing and thoughtful story really carried the film. I loved the ending, and thought it was the right way to wrap up a film like this.

What can I say about Maggie G. Wow! If you were to do a list of the world's most attractive actresses, she would probably fall in the bottom percentile. That being said, she makes up for it by having a real sexyness about her. She is a captivating actress and I couldn't take my eyes off of her when she was on the screen.

Great story, great film. I give it a solid "A"

I caught this one when it was first released because the premise intrigued me, and I must say that I loved, loved, loved it. I didn't even have a problem with the ending because at the end I was pretty much begging Karen and the movie to spare Harold's life. That's how involved I got with these characters.

Finally saw this tonight and I LOVED it! Certainly one of my favorites of the year so far.

Will Ferrell is tremendous in this. Understated....yes, you read that right, understated to perfection. The story is tender, funny at times, sweet, and utterly captivating. I absorbed every minute of it.

This one's a keeper for the Glover household.

Again, one of the year's best.

10/10

I watched this last night with my new friend and we both loved it! Very clever and well acted, especially by Will Ferrell (I admit I haven't seen many of his movies). One of my favorites for 2006 for sure.

I give it a 9.5
A little shy of a 10, party because a lot of the story feels familiar in the wake of Truman Show and Adaptation. I mean outrageous over-the-top physical comedian does a serious role in which he discovers his life is being overseen by a higher power and then struggles to escape it's control. Toss in the story about the story blurring reality and fiction of Adaptation.

But that's about the limit of my complaints. It is also on par with those films in terms of effectiveness, tone (it's a wide mix of comedy - dry mostly - and drama), performance and production value. It is a tad slow and the end is not quite as sharp as you'd like.

Farrell is very good with the role which doesn't surprise me actually. I think we've seen flashes of this ability before with him, the straight-man low-key humor, which plays as serious without a clown paired with him. Maggie I always find very sexy and this role is typecasting for her at this point. I liked Thompson, thought it showed her abilty as an actress because the character is very odd and a little bit of a stretch from some of her other recent roles.

Hoffman here is similar to his role/effort in Huckabees, which I think is a good thing. Latifah is fine, but almost feels like overkill in her role. Not sure why they needed that big a star for it. I'm sure she did it to show some drama and get involved with a solid script.

Agree with you there Seth. For a second there I thought she might pull me out of the film. But she was actually very good.

Glad you liked it Seth. I really want to see this again but the local cinema here has it playing in a horrible sounding auditorium. Our viewing was pretty bad in terms of audio quality. The dialogue kept fading in & out.