Righteous Rental Reco #1: Stranger than Fiction

Well, I don't know how much your life is like mine these days, but I don't get out much.  Juggling the schedules, and the resulting fatigue, of two small children is...tricky...to say the least.  More often than I would like, the husband and I find ourselves at home with a couple of hours to kill before we crash, and nothing to do.  (Well, of course we could do that, but what do we do with the 113 remaining minutes?...I kid, it takes MUCH longer than that - Hi Honey, I love you!)  Enter the Impromptu At-Home Date Night.  We order some delicious takeout food, and pop in a video.  Seeing as this is it for indulgence, though, we want to make sure that the movie is good.  I hate it when the movie's a dud, cause it puts such a damper on the festivities.  And we simply can't do that again..we're waaay too old...

But what to watch? 

The movie that I just can't stop thinking about lately is Stranger than Fiction.  I've mentioned before that I am a big fan of Will Ferrell, despite the fact that he has made some truly awful movies.  He is still ridiculously talented and always manages to make me laugh out loud.  I rarely do that.

In Stranger than Fiction, Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an unremarkable IRS auditor who lives a very orderly and predictable life.  One day, he hears a voice in his head.  Contrary to what the psychiatrist says, he insists that he is not schizophrenic - the voice is omnisciently narrating his life.  He realizes this when he resets his watch and the voice demonstrates that she knows more than Harold with the following line "Little did he know, that this simple, seemingly innocuous act, would result in his imminent death."

With the help of a literature professor, Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), Crick finds out that his life is being narrated by a reclusive author, Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson).  Eiffel is famous for killing her protagonist in creative ways, but is currently suffering from a case of writer's block.  Crick sets out to find Eiffel in a bid to get her to change her mind..and the ending of the novel.

There is so much to like about this movie.  It is a perfect blend of comedy, tragedy, romance and fantasy.  Ferrell, uncharacteristically playing the straight man, is note perfect.  He manages to be completely serious and yet be still be interesting, which is a difficult trick for a comedian.  There is a brilliant scene where the Professor Hilbert has composed a list of 23 questions in order to assess in which Harold appears, and Crick's answers are so hysterical that you expect Ferrell to break out in his usual shtick, or at least crack a knowing smile, and when he doesn't, I just sat back and wondered at his composure.  You know the actors had a good laugh filming that scene.

What I like best about this movie, though, is that while it is a crowd-pleaser, it is also very thinky.  Usually movies are one or the other.  Does Harold Crick actually exist, or is he simply a character in an active imagination?  Does he control his actions, or does the author?  Can he affect the outcome of the story - especially as he is privy to the author's perspective via the narrative playing out in his head?  Since he doesn't hear the voice at all times, what is happening elsewhere when he doesn't?  And if he doesn't hear the voice, does he control how the plot proceeds?  Should Crick knowingly choose to die in order to create a great work of literature?  The questions are endless.

If you like movies that both challenge and entertain, rent it.  You'll love it.  And you'll make the most of your time on the couch.

Comments

[motherbumper]

You know I always wanted to know if that movie was worth the rent, thank you Mama Drama. Now can you recommend some good take out? Oh and seven minutes is impressive these days in my books.

[metro mama]

I LOVED this movie. If you liked this, you'll probably like Being John Malkovich. Have you seen it? Another comp is Adaptation. LOVE this film.

[kgirl]

Loved that flick. Right now we're into tv shows on DVD - we have already burned through Heros, first 3 seasons of Lost and are currently working on season 2 of Big Love, which is amazing.

[kittenpie]

I loved this movie, too, for all the same reasons - it is both intelligent and light, intersting and fun. And I've never really been a Will Ferrell fan, but he was terrific in this. One of the best ones I've seen in recent years for the appealing to all sides and all people, I think.

[daysgoby]

Oh, THANK YOU. I wanted to see this and then....it dropped out of sight.

Whee! Now to go find it....