Stranger Than Fiction Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)November 15th, 2006
STRANGER THAN FICTION
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
In STRANGER THAN FICTION, a movie much like the infinitely better ADAPTATION, Harold Crick finds himself as a character in a book. Distraught to find that his "real" life doesn't exist and that his author, Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), whom he knows only as a voice in his head, is about to kill him, Harold seeks the guidance of a therapist.
This bland and energyless production stars Will Ferrell as Harold, an anal IRA agent. Harold is constantly running numbers in his head, which we see as all-too-cute graphics on the screen. He counts stair steps and toothbrush strokes and he estimates the precise percentage of fullness of liquid soap dispensers in public restrooms. Farrell sleepwalks through his part with the same stoic expression in every scene. It's a performance almost guaranteed to induce slumber in his viewers.
Although Dr. Mittag-Leffler (Linda Hunt) believes Harold's problem is schizophrenia, she sends him to see a literary expert on the off-chance that the narrator in his head is genuine. Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) asks Harold a series of questions -- "What is your favorite word?," which turns out to be "integer" -- in the hope he can ascertain the author of Harold's story.
Eventually the professor hits upon the idea of having Harold keep a count of each tragic or comedic episode in his life. Once the data is collected, the professor hopes to be better able to ascertain the author of Harold's story.
If you try to keep a similar log about the movie itself, you'll likely end up with a zero-to-zero tie, since little happens to move you one way or another. The movie would have been well advised to stop trying to be so clever and spend more time trying to be funny. I never laughed and rarely smiled. I can't speak for the number of times the audience in my theater smiled, but I can attest that they almost never laughed. When we all exited, everyone looked remarkably bored and glad that the film was over.
Although some of the cheesy dialog, rather like a flowery bodice ripper, spoken in narration by Thompson is almost funny, the only character worth caring about is a baker named Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Although Ana went to Harvard Law, this tax protester now works as a baker who only pays the part of her taxes than don't go to the national defense. Heavily tattooed, she is a rebel with a twinkle in her eye and some spark in her soul, something decidedly missing in the rest of the characters in the story.
As the movie draws to a close, the only question is whether Kay, as she always does, kills off her main character. The ending was easy to guess, but I never cared. I only cared that the film would finally end, so I could get on with my life.
STRANGER THAN FICTION runs a long 1:53. It is rated PG-13 for "some disturbing images, sexuality, brief language and nudity" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: [email protected]
***********************************************************************
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?
Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
More on 'Stranger Than Fiction'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
