Review of Stranger Than Fiction (2000) by Christopher S — 03 Oct 2012

"The Truman Show" meets "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in this slightly less perfect, but still intelligent and touching film.

Unpredictable to the point of suspenseful, blends black comedy, romance, mystery, and literary thriller with almost seamless precision.

"Stranger Than Fiction" isn't as hysterically funny as the trailers have made it out to be, but that comes as a pleasant surprise. What might have been another slapstick, fantasy movie with cheap laughs like "Bruce Almighty" or "Click" turns out to be a really clever and touching dramedy in the tradition of "Rushmore" or "The Truman Show".

This is the story of Harold, a guy who's starting to hear a voice-over to his life. He realizes he's a character in a novel that is about to be killed off. There's probably a million traps this story could have fallen into along the way, but writer Zach Helm gracefully avoids all of them. Both comedy and tragedy are restricted and well-balanced. The focus is never on the question why Harold's character actually hears the author's voice or why he exists in real life at all. What's more important is the thought: what if an artist could meet his own creation? What if a character would suddenly realize that his whole life is merely the creation of somebody else's mind? These are some very philosophical questions and parts of the movie serve as a great analogy for art, religion and the meaning of life.

All of the characters are remarkably well-crafted, particularly the literature expert (Dustin Hoffman) who helps Harold find out if he's just crazy or really part of a novel. This character serves as a commentator on the writing process and leads Harold and the audience through the ongoings of the story.

Not only are the characters written very well, they are also embodied convincingly by the actors. Will Ferrell finally gets a chance to really shine without any lowbrow comedy. Jim Carrey might have played the part as well, but Ferrell is actually much better suited for it. He nails it. Ferrell manages to rein in his usual manic comedy style (for the most part) to portray the mundane and scheduled Harold Crick. The on-screen chemistry between Harold and law-school-drop-out-turned-baker Ana (played well by Maggie Gyllenhaal) is fun and believable.

If there's anything not entirely satisfying about this movie it's the ending. I'm still not sure if it wasn't a little cop out. It did feel a little tacked on, as if the writer didn't dare take the story to the ending that was meant for it. Besides, many questions are left open and, although it's not necessarily a bad thing if not everything is spelled out, some answers would have been nice.

All in all it was clever, fun, and kept me guessing until the last frame which is always a plus.