Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Stranger than Fiction is the characterization at play – and in this instance, those living in the real world are strikingly more interesting than those being written. The title, in this sense, is more than appropriate.

Harold Crick is as bland as he is numerically-minded. The message that emerges is altogether a philosophical one. Utilitarianism? Perhaps. There is no reason to doubt Harold’s mediator when he suggests that Harold isn’t important enough to live. His story is responsible for a renowned author’s masterpiece, and Harold’s life isn’t much to shout about – his existence bores himself and will potentially bore those readers following the events of his life, as they plod onwards to the desolate conclusion. And on top of all this, we viewers are forced to accept the bleak knowledge that this is a man utterly aware of his imminent death. There is an uncountable range of moral questions surrounding this notion. And then we remember that it doesn’t matter, because our subject is just a work of fiction after all; but he’s also real, so it does matter. And then where does that place his creator? A masochist or a tortured soul at the end of her tether?

The film ponders, it persists, it plays and it paralyzes. There is a strange sadness filtered through the hilarity and obscurity of the script. The atmosphere is reminiscent of The Truman Show, but actually makes less sense and more sense at the same time – if that is possible. Stranger than Fiction is both continuously bizarre and incredibly surreal. But it is also in possession of the many human qualities that demand that everything – even the oddest discontinuities – fit into place wonderfully. It is interesting to wonder, for instance, where Harold Crick was before he started being written. Or more appropriately, who he was. Or did his writer start writing on the day of his birth? These questions are born through a seemingly endless stream of curiosity and meditation. The whole film feels almost as though it’s on a mission to challenge who we are as human beings and our persistently struggling natures.

A new respect was born in me for Will Ferrell, who I never really had so much time for before now. In this film, he adds another dimension to his often frustratingly samey pallet of characters. He works well off the great Dustin Hoffman and the greater Emma Thompson, who astound the audience with their genial wit and passionate explorations. As the film journeys through its questioning and its outcomes, sighs and chuckles fill the empty spaces and a problem leads to a realization, which in turn leads to another problem – and so is the nature of the whole thing; a long and bottomless pleasure.

External links

Stranger Than Fiction at IMDb

Stranger Than Fiction at Wikipedia

Stranger Than Fiction (awards won and nominated for) at IMDb