Stranger Than Fiction
I've watched several movies over the last month, but never got around to posting a review. So here's hoping I remember them well enough.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Summary: Will Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an anal-retentive IRS agent who has a very set routine and never strays from it. One day, Harold starts hearing a woman (Emma Thompson) narrating his life. He's annoyed by the voice, but doesn't do anything about it until she says "Llittle did he know, this would lead to his imminent death...". Freaked out that he's going to die, Harold talks to a literature expert (Dustin Hoffman) to see how he can change his fate. Across town, Emma Thompson is a writer suffering from writer's block, trying to figure out how to finish her book and kill the main character (who turns out to be Harold Crick). Will Ferrell eventually decides to just live his life, fall in love with the baker he's auditing (Maggie Gyllenhaal), learn to play the guitar, etc. And the movie goes onto other things, but I don't want to spoil it too much.
Positives: I enjoy Will Ferrell when he's not doing in-your-face comedy. This lighter, indirect comedy is a nice showcase for him. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays an interesting character. The story is utterly unrealistic, but it's heartbreaking and interesting and pretty. The movie also has one of the cutest and sweetest romantic gestures ever -- Will Ferrell is trying to woo Maggie Gyllenhaal (who is a baker) by bringing her "flours" (rather than flowers), a box of all different varieties of baking flour.
Negatives: Eh, I don't know. It's alright, but it's not fantastic. It's just missing that "awesome" factor. I can't really see Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal being a believable couple. The scenes where Emma Thompson is trying to imagine how to kill Harold Crick freak me out every time. I don't watch this movie very often, and I always seem to forget at the beginning of the movie that it's not really her jumping off a building.
Keep or Toss: Keep, I suppose. It's fun to watch, but not one of those movies I'll watch often.
Rating: 3 out 5 starts, I guess. It's cute and fun, but it just doesn't have that "amazing" quality. Maybe it's because the movie gives off such a self-important vibe. It's trying too hard to be a movie with a meaning, and just comes off as arrogant.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Summary: Will Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an anal-retentive IRS agent who has a very set routine and never strays from it. One day, Harold starts hearing a woman (Emma Thompson) narrating his life. He's annoyed by the voice, but doesn't do anything about it until she says "Llittle did he know, this would lead to his imminent death...". Freaked out that he's going to die, Harold talks to a literature expert (Dustin Hoffman) to see how he can change his fate. Across town, Emma Thompson is a writer suffering from writer's block, trying to figure out how to finish her book and kill the main character (who turns out to be Harold Crick). Will Ferrell eventually decides to just live his life, fall in love with the baker he's auditing (Maggie Gyllenhaal), learn to play the guitar, etc. And the movie goes onto other things, but I don't want to spoil it too much.
Positives: I enjoy Will Ferrell when he's not doing in-your-face comedy. This lighter, indirect comedy is a nice showcase for him. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays an interesting character. The story is utterly unrealistic, but it's heartbreaking and interesting and pretty. The movie also has one of the cutest and sweetest romantic gestures ever -- Will Ferrell is trying to woo Maggie Gyllenhaal (who is a baker) by bringing her "flours" (rather than flowers), a box of all different varieties of baking flour.
Negatives: Eh, I don't know. It's alright, but it's not fantastic. It's just missing that "awesome" factor. I can't really see Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal being a believable couple. The scenes where Emma Thompson is trying to imagine how to kill Harold Crick freak me out every time. I don't watch this movie very often, and I always seem to forget at the beginning of the movie that it's not really her jumping off a building.
Keep or Toss: Keep, I suppose. It's fun to watch, but not one of those movies I'll watch often.
Rating: 3 out 5 starts, I guess. It's cute and fun, but it just doesn't have that "amazing" quality. Maybe it's because the movie gives off such a self-important vibe. It's trying too hard to be a movie with a meaning, and just comes off as arrogant.