Stranger than Fiction

More than for the star power of the likes of Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson, I went to see Marc Foster’s (‘Monster’s Ball’, ‘Finding Neverland’) new film ‘Stranger than Fiction’ for its fascinating premise.

Will Ferrell plays middle class tax auditor Harold Crick. He lives a very straight, totally organised life. For instance he has his meals at the same time of day every day, he brushes his teeth a certain amount of times each ‘session’… Then one day his humdrum life is thrown into jeopardy. Crick wakes up one day to find out that there is a voice in his head running his life. He soon works out that he has become the main character in a new novel that is being written, and seeks the advice of literary professor, Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). Crick receives bad news from the Professor. Prof Hilbert tells him he believes he has become the main character in Kay Eiffel’s latest novel, and she always kills off her main character at the end. Crick sets off to find her before he becomes her latest ‘victim’.

‘Stranger than Fiction’ is for filmgoers who love quirky-well done! Films that it reminded me of included Peter Weir’s ‘The Truman Story’, Charlie Kaufmann’s ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’. It had an appealing theme, shake up one’s life a little or one will forever regret it. The film combined a richly comic, satirical tone with a good dose of suspense. Will Crick save his ass, will be get to Katy Eiffel in time.

Marc Foster’s well made film is from an original script by Zach Helm. The performances were a treat. Will Ferrell is great in a basically straight role, Dustin Hoffman goes to town as eccentric Professor, Professor Jules Hilbert, Emma Thompson goes shows her warm screen presence as Kay Eiffel, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Crick’s love interest, Ana Pascal is a bit of a knockout!