Stranger Than Fiction
Halfway in the middle of watching Stranger Than Fiction one word kept repeating itself in my head.
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. This movie is briiilliant. Unexpectedly so, because as far as reading reviews, I knew it was good, and was supposed to be touching, but ya never know with critics sometimes. Fortunately for me, they were right. So much that I am completely headstruck in love with this movie.
First, the ever engaging Will Ferrell. Yes, he too, is brilliant in this movie. So much love for him and his char. Harold Crick. It's Will exploring a more subdued acting style in his character because Harold is an auditor for the IRS with a mathematical OCD. He rules his life with numbers, and it'sall coordinated by his watch that dictates his schedule to the minute. I wouldn't say the role is too much of a stretch because Will, when he's not overacting in his comedies, does straight, dry humour so very well. But in this particular movie, his entire being is all about the mundane existence he leads and when he suddenly hears a voice narrating his every move (and soon foretells his imminent death), his life is dramatically and oh so comedically thrown for a loop.
This gets even more interesting and more emotionally engaging when he is introduced to a baker he is in the process of auditing. Played by the incredibly talented Maggie G, Ana Pascal hates everything Harold Crick is from the moment they talk. She is a tax evader and a supposed anarchist. While she's not extreme by my standards, she's not exactly the type of person you could see Harold end up with. Except, as this relationship starts off weird and continues to hit those quirky beats that we are all familiar with in most romantic comedy movies, this relationship slowly unfolds into one of the quirkiest and more endearing love stories I've recently seen on screen. Harold woos Ana, slowly but surely, in his own methodical and completely logical way. Ana responds suitably in her own way as well. I try not to spoil, because the less you know, the better.
But there is one scene in this movie that gets me straight up giddy.
There is a scene with Harold, and a guitar, and a fantastic song called the "Whole Wide World" that will make you fall madly in love with Harold Crick/Will Ferrell. We all know Will can sing for laughs, but while you may be grinning during this scene, so will your heart.
I believe I am capable of writing for another hour about this movie. But I'll try to sum up the main gist of why I loved it and why I would watch it again. The movie explores themes and questions that I've always been interested in, but in a way that is very literary and very movie-like. Themes like existentialism, the meaning of life and the inevitability of death are explored and asked and presented in a way that is completely refreshing. Someone much smarter than me can analyze this movie to a much more finer degree, but this movie is for anyone who likes literary movies, for philosophy junkies, for romantics who like unlikely couplings, for those who like tragedies/comedies, for anyone who enjoys smart movies or dumb movies, this one is, as I've said, brilliant.