CARISSA MARSH
A&E Editor
They say two things are certain in life: death and taxes. In the new movie “Stranger than Fiction,” the main character’s life revolves around his job and a calculated existence until the fear of death jumpstarts him to start actually living.
The film focuses on a plain, lonely and routine-bound IRS auditor named Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), who meticulously counts his brush strokes while brushing his teeth. One day, during his regular morning routine, the irregular happens — Crick begins to hear the voice of a British woman narrating his every move and thought. Little does he know (a phrase that will become significant to Crick’s life), that the narrator is novelist Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) who, after being out of the public spot light for years, must find a way to kill her tragic hero for what is potentially the best book she has ever written.
When the narrator’s precise descriptions forebode Crick’s ultimate demise he takes her seriously and decides he must somehow change his fate.
While one would assume the film would be a funny one — based on the film’s superb cast as well as the subject of the story — it is not all it is cracked up to be. In fact, the movie takes on a more serious tone than in any of Ferrell’s previous roles, as there is a strong message in the film to live one’s life to the fullest. The film does not revolve around the slapstick, in-your-face comedy of “Anchorman” or “Talladega Nights.” While the story is not as comical as expected, there is a humorous edge that lies just beneath the surface of the plot but is never quite fulfilled. The script, written by Zach Helm, had potential to be the comedy the writers intended it to be, but the overtone of sadness in Crick’s life made it difficult for this potential to be realized. However, Ferrell’s acting, while a bit awkward, is unexpected in a good way. There is even a crying scene that is meant not to garner laughs but true emotion.
Still, the film does play out the jokes you expect to hear in some of the characters’ interactions. In his attempt to change his ending, Crick seeks the knowledge of a literary expert, Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). The brightest moments of the film happen during their conversations, as the professor asks ridiculous questions to figure out what kind of story Crick is in, specifically a comedy or a tragedy.
While the audience also tries to answer that question, things start to turn around as Crick surprisingly becomes involved with Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), the tattooed anarchist baker he is auditing. The on-screen relationship adds lightness and fun to a movie that could make one depressed by the misery of Crick’s tedious, monotonous life.
One irritant is that the audience is never told why this particular character in Eiffel’s book happens to be a real person who can hear her writing. Viewers are forced to accept this element of fantasy and move on, but the circumstance still begs the question, “has Karen Eiffel killed other real people through her words?”
Thompson, whose character struggles with this very question, plays an author plagued by writer’s block in an intense and kooky manner — an unkempt recluse and chain smoker who imagines jumping off a building or being in a car crash during her efforts to find a way to kill Crick.
Directed by Marc Forster, the film features interesting camera angles and graphics that add a fresh element to the story. The purpose of the graphics seems to be to illustrate the preciseness of Crick’s life, which he has timed down to the second thanks to his wristwatch that, in a way, becomes another character in the story.
Though “Stranger than Fiction” may not be as hilarious as some people hoped, it is a sweet, if not strange, movie that is worth seeing just to get a peek into another side of the popular comic. Like a good novel, the story and its characters are connected from beginning to end, leaving the audience rooting for its tragic hero.
11-16-2006