Average User Rating: 80% (32 Reviews)
5 / 5	Who Said That?! Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - 2 March 2007 Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) lives a boring life. He has no friends or social life. He works as an auditor for the IRS. He's so boring that he counts the number of times he brushes his teeth in the morning and the number of steps he takes. All that changes one Wednesday. When he wakes up that morning, he hears a voice narrating his every action. Of course, this creeps him out, and his co-workers begin to notice his odd behavior. But things get even worse on his way home from work when the voice predicts his imminent death. Harold doesn't relish that idea, so he begins to look for help with his problem. Eventually, he comes in contact with English professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), who tries to help him figure out what to do from a literary standpoint. Meanwhile, famed novelist Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) is trying to figure out how to end her latest book, DEATH AND TAXES. She's got everything except how to kill off her main character, Harold Crick. As far as I can remember, I've only seen one other Will Ferrell movie. Most of the previews look too over the top for my taste. This one intrigued me, however, so I set aside my prejudices and went to see it. I'm glad I did. To be honest, I expected a funnier movie. This isn't Ferrell's normal over the top gag fest. It is funny, and I laughed through most of it. Just not as often as I thought I would. That's because there's an underlying pathos to the story. Facing death, Harold realizes that he's never really lived. This gives him the boldness to go for some things he's always wanted to do and make some friends. The performances by the entire cast wonderfully walk the balance between the comedy and the more elements of the film. Yeah, there were scenes that could have been funnier, but I like the final product. It's a great mix of comedy and drama that kept me entertained for the full two hours. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go hang out with my friends.... Read Full Review »
2 / 5	A major disappointment Billy Casper - 13 August 2007 I was expecting great things from this. "Stranger Than Fiction" has been lauded by the critics, but unfortunately it never lives up to its reputation. While Will Ferrell's performance is strong, the script suffers from a lack of true invention; its intriguing central premise is never fully exploited, instead becoming bogged down in the same old tired romantic comedy conventions (boy meets girl. Girl hates boy. Boy wins girl over by playing the guitar and singing badly). Ferrell's and Gyllenhaal's characters are so patently incompatible that their relationship never rings true. Dustin Hoffman plays another cookie cutter eccentric who's not nearly as interesting as the screenwriter thinks he is (see "I Heart Huckabees" for another example of this) and Emma Thompson's character is simply annoying, a stereotype of an "important" novelist who just comes across as maudlin and self-absorbed. Indeed, it is her character's voice over narration which robs this film of its credibility: she is supposed to be a novelist of major talent and importance, a writer whose work is the subject of academic study and fevered reverence; yet the language she uses in her narration is so full of trite cliches and amateurish idiom (she uses expressions like "But little did he know" and "he found himself standing outside the building")that anyone with even a passing interest in or knowledge of "proper" literature will find it laughable. The audience is asked to believe that she is Jane Austen when in fact she writes like a housewife who's attended one evening class in creative writing; a hugely irritating flaw which, for this viewer, almost rendered the film unwatchable. There are one or two striking visual moments (watch out for the bulldozer) and Ferrell's character is given a couple of funny lines, but on the whole this film is a major disappointment. It is as though, in attempting to give it a broader appeal, screenwriter Zac Helm has smoothed away all its rough edges. With a 15 certificate and a good deal more imagination, it could have been truly innovative; instead it must go down as a wasted opportunity. ... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Excellent emily - 27 February 2007 I went to see this film on my 18th and was a bit sceptical because Will Ferrell is normally a comedy actor i.e. Talledega nights, anchorman etc. But this film is fantastic. It definitely shows him as a deeper actor, yet darkly funny at the same time. My boyfriend and I both agreed that this film was worth seeing in the cinema, and that it was probably the best film we'd seen in a while. As the person above has said, it left me thinking about the film for the rest of the evening and I can't wait til it comes out.... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Excellent Michael Gerrard (Geneva) - 15 February 2007 I just saw this movie at the cinema. I didn't know what to expect but this film was a breath of fresh air. It is different! I walked out of the cinema actually thinking about the film I'd just seen. This was the best film I've seen a long while. I recommend it! No I won't say much about it, the synopsis above tells enough, it's better to see the film without knowing too much. I will say one thing, the graphics they use are clever and hook you early on. Later the story gets deeper and then there's no escape!... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Unmissable JT "Tinhead" (Wirral, UK) - 15 April 2007 I won't give you details of the plot - you neither need nor want them. Suffice to say this is a small masterpiece. Acted superbly throughout (although Emma Thompson excels here) and with a plot and script that engages right to the end. Don't miss it.