Will Ferrell, the beloved actor of college students everywhere, made everyone a little nervous when the trailers first came out for his new movie Stranger than Fiction. It was obviously a departure from the likes of Talladega Nights, Anchorman, and Old School, but fans had faith in him and he delivered once again. If you're still somewhat hesitant to embrace Ferrell's newest endeavor, just think of the film as Stranger than Fiction: The Saga of Harold Crick and perhaps it will seem a little more familiar to you die-hard Ferrell fans.
Harold Crick (Ferrell) is surely the most boring man alive: he works for the IRS, counts his way through every action (brushing his teeth, getting dressed, walking to the bus), and never differs his routine from one day to the next.
That is, until a woman's voice begins to narrate his life and makes some very dire predictions concerning his "imminent death." Understandably upset - he is about to die and everyone thinks he is crazy - Harold seeks help from English professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) to discover who is writing his life story and stop her before it is too late.
In fact, the author is Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), the reclusive and neurotic writer notorious for killing off the hero in all of her books, who is suffering from a prolonged case of writer's block. She knows she must kill Harold Crick, and she wants to kill him, but how? Fittingly - this is, after all, Stranger than Fiction - Eiffel has her creative breakthrough just as Harold discovers her identity and reveals that he is not only her character, but a living, breathing, counting person. Thus the crisis: The story is Eiffel's masterpiece and the death of the character Harold Crick is absolutely necessary, but can the living Harold Crick willingly, knowingly accept his death? Obviously, death is unavoidable, but if you could delay it, would you?
Maybe it's the fact that I'm an English major and the idea of a writer as God appeals to me, or maybe it's the fact that the theater was so full I had to sit in the very front row that clued me in to the film's quality. In any case, I found Stranger than Fiction to be funny, sweet, and inspiring. No other Will Ferrell movie has made me reflect on past class discussions of fate and free will, or pause to consider the harm in falling victim to routine, or want to learn to play the guitar. That is probably because this is not just a Will Ferrell movie. While he is certainly funny - who else could instill so much humanity and sympathy in an IRS agent? - his humor doesn't overpower the other actors. It is actually Thompson as crazy Kay Eiffel and Hoffman as literature guru Hilbert that deliver most of the film's one-liners; and Queen Latifah as writing assistant Penny and Maggie Gyllenhaal as anarchist baker Ana Pascal do their part to highlight the idiosyncrasies of Thompson and Ferrell respectively.
What is endearing about Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction, and missing from his past successes, is the ability to relate to his character. Harold Crick is simply caught up in the mundane routine of life, and he doesn't deserve to be the victim of such a cruel and arbitrary narrator. If only we could all find our author and rewrite the story.
Like the set, the film is clean and uncluttered, and the emotions it evokes are pure. We watch as Harold becomes more human, and we want him to eat cookies, get the girl, and live! The movie encourages us to have a little less responsibility and a little more fun - a message we can all take to heart. After all, when nothing is certain but death and taxes, life suddenly seems wide open.
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