Stranger Than Fiction
September 16th 2007 01:42
I've got to admit, I do it to myself sometimes. You know, narrate myself. It could be something like, "And as he takes his last sip of beer, he thinks to himself..." or "Upon realising that I couldn't be bothered, the decision to do nothing for the night becomes imminent."
But my inner narrator has never been out of my control. Henceforth the combination of Will Ferrell as character Harold Crick, and EmmaThompson as the writer of his story Karen Eiffel comes into play. The writer is controlling the character's ever-so-mundane (pre Maggie Gyllenhaal) life, and as the character realises someone's narrating him in some kind of metaphysical/delusional-schiz ophrenic sense, he decides to get out of his square and determine how to free himself.
Unfortunately this doesn't happen until the book ends. And the writer is the neurotic-eccentric type who wishes him dead by the end of the novel. But will she and her fanbase get what they want? Or will the main character live up to the hype of having a book written about him and decide he doesn't want to die while in the process of receiving his 15 minutes of fame?
As the love interest enters the stage, my thoughts move from "Could this happen to me?" to "Well you can't complain if you nab a girl like that on the way." Thankfully all the characters are well-developed and interesting, heck even the extras, so it is easy to become attached to this loveable story.
It's possible to call this a writer's movie, as opposed to director's, and therefore I can strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in similar creative pursuits. To the point of saying this is a movie that would be enjoyed by people who don't usually like movies. And the showdown between Dustin Hoffman as literary professor and Emma Thompson as writer, meeting for the first time, is something that will linger in my mind for years to come.
There is psychological, romantic and thought-provoking parts to this movie which will be enjoyed by all. A rare Hollywood treat.
Mmmm... okay four stars
But my inner narrator has never been out of my control. Henceforth the combination of Will Ferrell as character Harold Crick, and EmmaThompson as the writer of his story Karen Eiffel comes into play. The writer is controlling the character's ever-so-mundane (pre Maggie Gyllenhaal) life, and as the character realises someone's narrating him in some kind of metaphysical/delusional-schiz ophrenic sense, he decides to get out of his square and determine how to free himself.
Unfortunately this doesn't happen until the book ends. And the writer is the neurotic-eccentric type who wishes him dead by the end of the novel. But will she and her fanbase get what they want? Or will the main character live up to the hype of having a book written about him and decide he doesn't want to die while in the process of receiving his 15 minutes of fame?
As the love interest enters the stage, my thoughts move from "Could this happen to me?" to "Well you can't complain if you nab a girl like that on the way." Thankfully all the characters are well-developed and interesting, heck even the extras, so it is easy to become attached to this loveable story.
It's possible to call this a writer's movie, as opposed to director's, and therefore I can strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in similar creative pursuits. To the point of saying this is a movie that would be enjoyed by people who don't usually like movies. And the showdown between Dustin Hoffman as literary professor and Emma Thompson as writer, meeting for the first time, is something that will linger in my mind for years to come.
There is psychological, romantic and thought-provoking parts to this movie which will be enjoyed by all. A rare Hollywood treat.
Mmmm... okay four stars
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