Review of Stranger Than Fiction (2000) by Alex N — 22 Feb 2016

Stranger Than Fiction.

Stranger Than Fiction stars Will Ferrell as Harold Crick; Maggie Gyllenhaal as Ana Pascal; Dustin Hoffman as Jules Hilbert; Emma Thompson as Karen Eiffel; and Queen Latifah as Penny Escher. The film takes place in Chicago in the 21st century. The genre of the movie is a comedy, sci-fi, drama, and romance.

The main character of the movie is an auditor Harold Crick lives an orderly life with a white collar job. He struggles with OCD as he counts the number of times he brushes each of his 32 teeth every morning, the number of steps to the bus stop, and the seconds in his coffee break. Harold has a watch that he uses to keep track of his daily activities and the time it takes to do them. All that begins to change when Harold hears a voice narrating everything in his day, describing both his actions and his deepest thoughts. The narrator narrating his thoughts is author Kay Eiffel. She is having trouble finishing her latest book as she can not figure out how to kill off her protagonist who happens to be Harold. No one can hear the voice narrating Harold's every move, however Harold knows he's not insane. He feels as if the voice is ruining his life. While doing an audit on a baker named Ana Pascal, he starts forming a relationship with her and eventually it turns romantic, however the narrative voice takes over that as well. When the voice predicts Harold's death, he goes to literary professor Jules Hilbert for help. Professor Hilbert tries to help him figure out what kind of story he's in to see if they can do anything to change his fate. They hope to find the author before she types "The End.".

The set of the movie contributes to the feelings and meaning of the film. Most of the scenes take place indoors, for example the psychiatrist's office, the professor's office, Harold's apartment, Harold's office and the bakery. Filming the movie inside adds to Harold's feeling of being confined in the walls of the story.

The lighting and brightness in the film is another aspect of the movie. In some of the rooms in the movie they are characterized by their brightness, especially the whiteness, notably in Karen's apartment and Harold's office. This brightness is contrasted by the toned down colours in the characters clothing and furniture. The only powerful colours are in Anna's spaces, as she has a bright red door for her bakery and stained glass windows in her apartment as that symbolizes her zest for life.

I would rate the film as a two thumbs up, and a 4 star rating. I would definitely recommend this film for viewers. I found the film was very unpredictable which was nice for once because a lot of films nowadays are predictable from the very start. I liked the symbol of the watch, and how the editors of the film used animations throughout. I found that the film taught viewers a lesson of life and its meaning. It teaches that life is short, and we need to make the most of what we have on our time here on earth, and that our lives can be snatched away at any moment, we are not in control. The film is a very extraordinary piece of work!