Stranger than Fiction review

 Number 626 on the top 1000 films of all time is an IRS agent who lives a strictly-regimented life. Everything about him is boring. Everyday is the same. That is until he starts hearing author Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) narrate his life. When she narrates, he is going to die, he frantically tries to prevent his death. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah and Dustin Hoffman co-star.

Stranger than Fiction covered familiar thematic territory. You never know when you're going to die so you should make the most of the time you have left. It wasn't anything new, but the execution of the film made it feel fresh and original. I've seen almost 800 films on the aforementioned list and I can't remember seeing this plot before. It also led to some funny cases of dramatic irony as Harold Crick desperately tried to catch up to the audience and to Karen Eiffel.

I also thought the two leads were very good. Like many American comedy actors, I find Will Ferrell to be very over-the-top, but in a quieter, more reserved role, he was very good. Like other critics have noted, when comedy actors like Ferrell are given a chance to show their dramatic chops, they always shine.

Emma Thompson was also great as Karen Eiffel - a writer with serious case of writer's block. She has the perfect voice for narration, but was also great in front of the camera too - especially when she realises she ahs been narrating people to their deaths.

Less convincing was Maggie Gyllenhaal as anti-capitalist baker Ana Pascal. After Crick comes to audit her business, she initially seems to rebuff him, adopting an anti-my taxes-going-to-bomb-children attitude. But Crick then falls in love with her. More weirdly, she then falls in love with him. Would an anti-capitalist anarchist fall in love with a very a capitalist government agent? Highly unlikely. The two were not believable together.

It's a shame that the film was marred by this unrealistic relationship, as I did enjoy it. Its premise was highly creative and the lead actors were very good.