Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Directed by Marc Forster
Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.
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13 films that influenced Stranger Than Fiction
What critics say influenced Stranger Than Fiction
In Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), a character asks: if one could save from a burning building either the last known copy of Shakespeare's works or some "anonymous human being," which is the correct choice?
Just as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" did for Jim Carrey, "Stranger Than Fiction" reveals the quiet side of Will Ferrell: As Harold, he keeps his face carefully still, resisting every opportunity for mugging.
With its delving -- at least, initially -- into Harold's neurotic inner workings, "Stranger Than Fiction" brings to mind movies such as 2002's "Adaptation" and the 2004 "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
Despite the innovative premise, the script by Zach Helm never matches the existential, mind-bending depths of, say, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or I Heart Huckabees.
Screenwriter Zach Helm seems to be aiming for the human-observation fantasy of Charlie Kaufman (1999's "Being John Malkovich," 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), but the movie has none of the soul or character complexity of Kaufman's work.
If the filmmakers had plunged a bit deeper, worked with a little more ambiguity or independence, they might have come up with something more along the lines of The Truman Show (1998) or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
Written by Zach Helm and directed by "Finding Neverland's" Marc Forster, the film explores some of the same metaphysical terrain that screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has in "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" but in a slightly more conventional and linear way.
As “Punch-Drunk Love” was to Adam Sandler, “Stranger” was to star Will Ferrell — a perfect seriocomic splinter cell of his big-baby persona, with exasperation that’s sweet rather than silly as a man inspired to live only when threatened with death.
Like Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love, Ferrell is playing a character who resembles some of his other roles, but he reins in any urge he might have had to ham things up; instead, he puts his skills to the service of an ambitious story told by a filmmaker who truly knows his craft.
Easy to watch, the movie mimics the I'm-a-character-in-my-own-life metaphysical playfulness of The Truman Show with far less art or imagination.
If the filmmakers had plunged a bit deeper, worked with a little more ambiguity or independence, they might have come up with something more along the lines of The Truman Show (1998) or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
Think far back to 1998 when Ferrell’s nemesis, Jim Carrey, switched gears on his career and starred in The Truman Show.
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…into a light romance, 2006’s “Stranger Than Fiction” stood as one of the most nimbly intelligent, lively, charming and beguiling existential-concept comedies since “Groundhog Day.”
A variation on the dim bulb Ferrell has specialized in since his "Saturday Night Live" days, Harold is initially immersed in a "Rain Man"-like fog of obsessive-compulsive behavior.
Screenwriter Zach Helm seems to be aiming for the human-observation fantasy of Charlie Kaufman (1999's "Being John Malkovich," 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), but the movie has none of the soul or character complexity of Kaufman's work.
Written by Zach Helm and directed by "Finding Neverland's" Marc Forster, the film explores some of the same metaphysical terrain that screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has in "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" but in a slightly more conventional and linear way.
There is a school of filmmakers and a sub-school of film devotees who feel that voice- over is film's device of last resort -- or simple directorial laziness --despite its occasionally exemplary use in films such as Days of Heaven or Mean Streets.
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And director Marc Forster, whose career reads like a zigzag tour through genres ("Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland"), finds an agreeable groove, letting the story's essential sweetness shine through.
The director, Marc Forster, became hot property after making “Monster's Ball” and “Finding Neverland” (neither of which bore much relation to his awful “Everything Put Together,” barely seen beyond the Sundance fest in 2000).
Since first receiving acclaim for Monster's Ball in 2001, Marc Forster has carved a career out of making low-key, imaginative, character-driven movies with big impact.
Stranger Than Fiction is directed by Marc Forster ( Monster’s Ball , Finding Neverland ) from a script by Zach Helm .
With the success of "Monster's Ball" (2001) and "Finding Neverland" (2004) behind him, director Marc Forster has established himself as a critic's and awards darling, if not necessarily a major cinematic artist.
Director Marc Forster has floundered thus far with realism ( Everything Put Together , Monster's Ball ) and flights of fantasy both maudlin ( Finding Neverland ) and baffling ( Stay ), but he shows a nice touch here, even if he's sometimes clumsy or misguided (as with a trick shot of the inside of Ferrell's mouth while brushing his teeth).
And director Marc Forster, whose career reads like a zigzag tour through genres ("Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland"), finds an agreeable groove, letting the story's essential sweetness shine through.
The director, Marc Forster, became hot property after making “Monster's Ball” and “Finding Neverland” (neither of which bore much relation to his awful “Everything Put Together,” barely seen beyond the Sundance fest in 2000).
Stranger Than Fiction is directed by Marc Forster ( Monster’s Ball , Finding Neverland ) from a script by Zach Helm .
With the success of "Monster's Ball" (2001) and "Finding Neverland" (2004) behind him, director Marc Forster has established himself as a critic's and awards darling, if not necessarily a major cinematic artist.
Director Marc Forster, whose "Finding Neverland" was a more formal exercise in imagination and fantasy mechanics, is working at a metaphysical level here, from a debut screenplay by Zach Helm.
Director Marc Forster has floundered thus far with realism ( Everything Put Together , Monster's Ball ) and flights of fantasy both maudlin ( Finding Neverland ) and baffling ( Stay ), but he shows a nice touch here, even if he's sometimes clumsy or misguided (as with a trick shot of the inside of Ferrell's mouth while brushing his teeth).