Stranger than Fiction

As you may have gathered during the course of many of my reviews there is one aspect of Hollywood that I bang on and on about – originality. While this may seem like a tired message it is true that it is becoming harder and harder to see original work on screen either through lack of public interest or the studios being unwilling to finance such ventures. Well with Stranger than Fiction we have the emergence of an original voice and a highly original take on the typical romantic comedy. Written by first time scribe Zach Helm the film play like Charlie Kaufman in love, or at least stripped of his usual biting cynicism, but bases itself on a premise the king of crazy himself would be proud of. Harold Crick is an IRS agent, and playing to the stereotype he is rather dull. Basing his life around mathematics and routine Harold overthinks his existence, stopping himself from experiencing anything new and exciting. Until one day he meets a woman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, a baker who refuses to pay a portion of her taxes and who slowly starts to change Harold’s ways. So far so romantic comedy, but the twist in the tale is that Harold is actually the main character in Kay Eiffel’s (Emma Thompson in brilliant mental breakdown mode) new book. Confused? Well as Harold goes about his business he starts to hear Eiffel’s voice narrating his life from the novel which is weird enough, but when the voice implies he is destined to die Harold suddenly finds himself in a race against time to find out exactly what is going on and whether or not he can stop it from happening. To say any more would be to ruin what is one of the smartest and most intriguing films of recent times. Will Ferrell plays the main character brilliantly, and in an inspired and brave move he abandons all his usual mannerisms and humour. The character of Harold Crick is so far removed from his usual crazy performances, but works due to Ferrell’s innate humanism and sadness. He manages to make Harold realistic, but not dull and his chemistry with Gyllenhaal (who also impresses) is believable and sweet. In fact the performances all round are great, except maybe for queen Latifah who is stuck in a role that is never developed enough and so feels rather useless, and the chain of events always intriguing and clever. In fact much credit must also go to director Marc Forster who continues to impress after directing Monsters Ball and Finding Neverland, his visual flair highlights the story perfectly but subtly and he avoids being heavy handed with the emotional aspects of the story. However the film is not perfect and towards the end there are some choices and reactions that don’t sit so well with me. I also feel that the relationship between the author and Harold could have been explored more; delving into the influence she has over his life, or even looking back and seeing if a similar occurrence happened with her previous novels. Of course there is also the impossible nature of the premise, something you either have to accept and get past because there is no explanation as such within the film, though I, for one, am thankful for this and feel the film works better as a fable, a phenomenon rather than a logical, understandable event. So for the most part the film walks the tightrope of lightness vs. philosophical debate well and if you embrace it for what it is, a concept movie taken to its extreme limits, you will find yourself with an underrated gem that you can’t help falling for. A unique and ambitious film with great performances and a fantastic premise that it can't quite live up to, but still makes a refreshing and enjoyable change from the normal cinema fare.