Spring Break
'Stranger Than Fiction' Comes to DVD
DVD Review
Daniel Gross
Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: Focus
"Stranger than Fiction," the new, surprisingly serious Will Ferrell movie, is now out on DVD. Directed by Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland"), with a much-buzzed about debut script from screenwriter Zach Helm.
It is a fairly decent movie, but not without one large flaw that ends the movie on a troubled note. For the most part, it is a very insightful, intelligent, whimsical and absolutely original comedy-drama. The eclectic cast consists of Will Ferrell ("Old School"), Dustin Hoffman ("Wag the Dog"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Donnie Darko"), Queen Latifah ("Chicago"), and Emma Thompson ("Love Actually").
As can be expected, the movie comes with a genuinely clever plot. Acclaimed author Kay Eiffel (Thompson), a bitter, despondent recluse, tries desperately to overcome her writer's block and finish a novel about a fictional IRS agent named Harold Crick. At her side is Penny Escher (Latifah), the assistant the publishers hired to protect their investment, so to speak. Little does Eiffel realize that Crick (Ferrell) actually exists, living a subdued life of his own in Chicago. Crick is a very intelligent person with Rain Man-esque calculation abilities, but also happens to be a vulnerable, socially inept loner. When he hears Eiffel's voice in his head on one random Wednesday, he becomes understandably distressed.
The voice continuously narrates his life as it unfolds, and then eventually states that Crick's all-important wristwatch going on the fritz has set the course for Crick's death. Crick decides to go see Jules Hilbert (Hoffman), an eccentric literature professor, who tries to determine the nature of Harold's story before it's too late. All Crick wants, however, is to find the origin of the voice and stop his death from occurring, so he can have enough time to build the life he's always wanted. Crick also attempts to build a relationship with one of his auditees, an attractive but nihilistic baker named Ana Pascal (Gyllenhaal), whose zeal for life intoxicates him.
It is a fairly decent movie, but not without one large flaw that ends the movie on a troubled note. For the most part, it is a very insightful, intelligent, whimsical and absolutely original comedy-drama. The eclectic cast consists of Will Ferrell ("Old School"), Dustin Hoffman ("Wag the Dog"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Donnie Darko"), Queen Latifah ("Chicago"), and Emma Thompson ("Love Actually").
As can be expected, the movie comes with a genuinely clever plot. Acclaimed author Kay Eiffel (Thompson), a bitter, despondent recluse, tries desperately to overcome her writer's block and finish a novel about a fictional IRS agent named Harold Crick. At her side is Penny Escher (Latifah), the assistant the publishers hired to protect their investment, so to speak. Little does Eiffel realize that Crick (Ferrell) actually exists, living a subdued life of his own in Chicago. Crick is a very intelligent person with Rain Man-esque calculation abilities, but also happens to be a vulnerable, socially inept loner. When he hears Eiffel's voice in his head on one random Wednesday, he becomes understandably distressed.
The voice continuously narrates his life as it unfolds, and then eventually states that Crick's all-important wristwatch going on the fritz has set the course for Crick's death. Crick decides to go see Jules Hilbert (Hoffman), an eccentric literature professor, who tries to determine the nature of Harold's story before it's too late. All Crick wants, however, is to find the origin of the voice and stop his death from occurring, so he can have enough time to build the life he's always wanted. Crick also attempts to build a relationship with one of his auditees, an attractive but nihilistic baker named Ana Pascal (Gyllenhaal), whose zeal for life intoxicates him.
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