Stranger Than Fiction
by Marc Forster
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DVD details
Actor: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, Will FerrellDirector: Marc Forster
Brand: Sony
Producer: Aubrey Henderson
Producer: Eric Kopeloff
Producer: Jim Miller
Producer: Joseph Drake
Producer: Lindsay Doran
Producer: Nathan Kahane
Writer: Zach Helm
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-27
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Stranger Than Fiction
DVD Review: The death of the author (and maybe the reader, too)
Summary: 2 Stars
Less a story or cinematic experience, "Stranger Than Fiction" is scarcely more than a flimsy premise for a weak romantic comedy, ultimately distinguished by a didactic voice-over that seems to go on moralizing forever at the film's end. As a romantic comedy, the film succeeds to the degree the viewer finds Harold Crick's life story as interesting as Will Farrell's persona. To reviewers not particularly drawn to Farrell's understated role, his conflict between a life controlled by a digital wrist watch vs. one proceeding from his own free and autonomous will is what the film comes down to. Of course, as a parable it attempts to make some "deeper" statement about the tragic narratives we regrettably mistake for the banality of actual living which, though no more profound than a bad rock & roll lyric, is something we can be grateful for: after all, it's "real life." Deal with it, and forget about living the fictionalized existence of some protagonist in a heightened, tragic drama. (It's at this point that the screenplay tries--far too hard and to an embarrassing degree--to excuse itself from looking "anti-cultural.")
For some viewers, Harold's salvation from his automated routine will be sufficient pay-off to make his mundane existence (now spiced up by his slightly wild and tattooed but sweet, newfound love) seem exceedingly preferable to the extermination of the artist and her pretentious fictional "masterpieces." But certainly there is nothing in the film more believable and disturbing than the self-destructive, neurotic-verging-on-psychotic Emma Thompson (she's Peter O'Toole more hung over than usual!) as the "great author"--until she shows up at the end of the film cleaned-up, repentant, well-groomed and gentle spoken--saved, presumably, from her own creative vices.
The moral of the story? Simply this: "you're lucky to be alive." And that's more than you could say for Lear, Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Butterfly, all of whom are killed off by their creators. As far as movies go, this one is to literature what "Patch Adams" was to medicine. Stop being a hi-brow or a fuddy-duddy. Wake up to the sound of kids laughing at the sight of doctors wearing red balls on their noses, and relish every lovingly baked crumb of a fresh cookie. (Just don't complain when lipid panels come back showing dangerously high levels of cholesterol.)
DVD Review: Death and taxes
Summary: 4 Stars
Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):
1. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a tax man. As a matter of fact, he's the kind of serious tax man that the Beatles sang about:
"Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
`Cos I'm the Taxman."
2. Crick begins hearing a female voice in his head narrating his life, and starts to take it really seriously when she starts talking about impending doom.
3. You've heard that the two inevitable things are death and taxes
4. You may be half right
Will Ferrell is really good in this role as an ill-fated character, and gets good support from Maggie Gyllenhaal as a sassy baker, Dustin Hoffman as a literature professor and Emma Thompson as a famous writer. Queen Latifah is mostly under-utilized, but makes the most of her limited screen time anyway.
Recommended as a Sunday rental to go with muffins and cookies - milk optional.
Harold Crick: "This may sound like gibberish to you, but I think I'm in a tragedy."
Amanda Richards, April 4, 2009
DVD Review: Stranger Than Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
LOVE THIS MOVIE. PHENOMENAL CAST. FUNNY,SAD AND INSIGHTFUL. NOT FOR EVERYONE, THOUGH. WOULD BE FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" OR "BIG FISH" (MAYBE)DVD Review: From Death to Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoyed this movie unexpectedly. In addition to its compelling story line I was struck by the collision of virtual and real reality that produces the tension that is only resolved at the very end. And the resolution is choosing the real over the virtual and death over life, both for the writer and the character. Of course this choice is different for the writer and the character: she chooses to save his life and he chooses to die so that he may save the life of another. As our culture recklessly abandons our humanity for the seduction of a virutal world, it is a morality tale of choosing life over fame and money that could never be popular and will always be rewarding.DVD Review: Not Much Stranger, But Much Better Than Most
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're expecting a typical Will Ferrell farce & fart joke flick, you may be disappointed, but if you enjoy movies that stretch fiction's usual boundaries, this one's for you. It's hard to decide who's best cast in this film. Each character is terrific, although Emma Thompson is the most fun to watch. As the chain smoking writer narrating staid IRS agent Howard Crick's (Will Ferrell's)life, she drives the story. It's definitely worth watching more than once.
The Spoon songs on the soundtrack are a bonus and perfect match.
Description of Stranger Than Fiction
An irs auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life from his work to his love-interest to his death. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 07/22/2008 Starring: Will Ferrell Maggie Gyllenhaal Run time: 113 minutes Rating: Pg13Much was written about Will Ferrell's first "dramatic role" as Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who begins hearing a voice narrating his life. But Stranger Than Fiction is hardly a drama. However, what Ferrell does--like Jim Carrey before him in The Truman Show--is handle a toned-down character with genuineness and affection: you believe he is this guy. Crick leads a lonely life filled with numbers and routines. While at first he considers the voice a nuisance, Crick decides more action is needed when it speaks of "his demise." Enter Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), who takes on the absurd notion with revelry, trying to find out what kind of book Crick's life is leading. It turns out that the voice Crick is hearing belongs to Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), a very real--and troubled--author who is writing a book in which Crick is a fictional character. As usual with these things, the stuffed shirt learns to live a better life--Crick even falls for one of his audits, a brash baker named Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Marc Foster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) has the right tone for the film, using great urban scenes (the unnamed city is Chicago) with interesting visualizations of Crick's world of numbers. He also directs Ferrell, Hoffman, and Gyllenhaal to their most charming performances (plus Linda Hunt and Tom Hulce pop up in two funny scenes). Ferrell succeeds in being a romantic lead you can root for; a scene where he eats Ana's freshly baked cookies is totally delightful without a hint of sarcasm. Screenwriter Zach Helm has two personal traits with his story: like Crick he followed his heart (he stopped rewriting scripts and only worked on his own) and like Eiffel, the final results are not a masterpiece, but good, and entertaining enough. Britt Daniel of the band Spoon worked on the dynamite soundtrack.--Doug Thomas
Extras from Stranger Than Fiction
 "Counting Brush Strokes," A featurette on the filming of Stranger Than Fictionhigh bandwidth |  Tax Man!: A clip from the film high bandwidth |  Queen Latifah on working with Emma Thompson high bandwidth |
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Beyond Stranger Than Fiction on Amazon.com
 Comic Actors Go Dramatic |  CD Soundtrack |  Emma Thompson Essentials |
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