Stranger Than Fiction (movie review)

News Type: Opinion — Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:23 PM EST

entertainment, movies, film, movie, films, cinemas, will-ferrell, dustin-hoffman, maggie-gyllenhaal, emma-thompson, marc-forster, zach-helm

Michael Sautter

Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction.

genre: drama / comedy.
director: Marc Forster.
starring: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman.

plot: Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) one day starts to hear a voice narrate his life. Even more disturbing, one day the voice seems to say that he will die soon. Not wanting to die, Harold tries to figure out what is going on.

The acting is generally very good however I think Will Ferrell holds the movie back from being a four and a half star or five star movie. Not that his acting is real bad, it's just that at times there are awkward moments where you're not sure if it's a comedic moment or not. Different people laughed at different times when I saw the movie. So an actor with more experience with comedy and drama would have been an improvement. (Maybe John Cusack?)

Don't let my slight criticism of Will Ferrell's acting scare you away from this movie. It is well acted, well directed and the plot is top notch. I would not be surprised to see an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay for Zach Helm. So go see Stranger Than Fiction but don't expect an outrageous Will Ferrell comedy.

my rating: 4 stars out of 5.

bonus: A good soundtrack with songs by the Clash (Death or Glory) and the Jam (That's Entertainment).

IMDB: Stranger Than Fiction (2006), 7.9 / 10 (2,506 votes).

5 Votes
Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Published to:

Michael Sautter's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Movies, Etc.
Regions: none

What's this?

Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

2.1

{"commentId":386129,"authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

Adam Hobson

I actually though that Farrell's acting was spot on. Those awkward moments where you weren't sure if it was supposed to be funny or not, well that's how real life worked. I thought Ferrell gave one of the most real performances actually portraying a real human being, rather than a caricature.

{"commentId":386129,"threadId":"55588","contentId":"446742","authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

2 votes

#1 - Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:40 AM EST

{"commentId":394772,"authorDomain":"JROO"}

JRO

I give it 9.9/10, all thumbs way way up. I thought this movie was just fractionally short of great.

I felt the flow and timing to be perfect, the plot to be compelling and acting superb. It touched me.

The only reason it fell short of 10/10 was the unnecessary role of Queen Latifa. That character served no purpose in the story.

I'd see this movie more than once.

{"commentId":394772,"threadId":"55588","contentId":"446742","authorDomain":"JROO"}

#2 - Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:19 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"55588","isPrivate":false}

MICHAEL SAUTTER

Backyard

Stranger Than Fiction (movie review)

Published to:

FUN STUFF:

COMPANY STUFF:

LEGAL STUFF: