Stranger Than
Fiction is a cool movie to see and enjoy with the family. It’s not every day we
get to see a subdued Will Ferrell—in fact, it’s rare to see him play a
character that isn’t over-the-top eccentric. Stranger Than Fiction is one of
those movies where Ferrell portrays an everyday person living a normal life. Of
course, he still adds his signature comedic touch, which shines through in his
interactions with his love interest, Ana.
The movie is fun
to watch and explores the dynamics of facing one’s impending death—like being
diagnosed with cancer and told you only have three months to live.
The plot begins
with Harold (Will Ferrell), a meticulous IRS employee who lives his life with
precision and routine. One day, something changes: he starts hearing a voice.
It begins when he asks someone for the time after his watch stops, and the
voice says, “Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would
result in his imminent death.” The voice belongs to a woman (Emma Thompson),
who is narrating his life as he lives it.
Her narration leaves Harold spooked, and he tries to communicate with her but can’t. He visits a doctor, who suggests he figure out whether the story being narrated is a comedy or a tragedy. This advice doesn’t help much, as Harold’s life swings between moments where he believes his story is a comedy and others where he’s convinced it’s a tragedy.
Things take an
awkward turn when Harold hears the voice on TV and identifies it as belonging
to an author known for writing tragedies. He tracks her down and explains that
his life is the story she’s writing. Which is very odd and one of the hardest
things to convince someone, but this movie finds a way to link the odd and the
convincing.
How things
develop from there, and the author’s own state of mind, is something you’ll
have to discover by watching the movie. Stranger Than Fiction was a critical
success but not a commercial one. It’s a film where every actor seems perfectly
cast, as if they were born to play their roles.
It is one of
those movies that is memorable, and the pacing is structured to allow you get into
the lives of the characters and feel what they are feeling.
It was a
standout movie we all saw when it came out, and it is still watchable today.
0 comments:
Post a Comment