Knowing how it’s going to end
Predictability, something most people suffer from. Harold Crick is probably the most predictable man on the face of the planet in Stranger than Fiction. Why, you ask? If you had a unknown english-accented narrator telling the unfolding moments of your life you would think it’s pretty predictable too. Crick, shocked and unhappy with the narrator telling him how he lives his life, faces one of the most uncomfortable narrations of all… his unknown and untimely death. The narrator, who is an author named Karen Eiffel, who is writing a book about his life, let’s him know (unknowingly) that she has prepared his death for him. Crick’s problem? He doesn’t want to die yet! Mainly because for the first time in his IRS life, he’s found purpose; Crick has found the love of his life through an typical audit. Her name is Ana Pascal and she is overdue on her taxes, but perfect with her baking. Harold must now convince Ana that he isn’t a cold taxman, but at the same time also find out how he dies so he can prevent it. To do all of this, he must consult with professor Jules Hilbert, an English professor, and figure out what type of story he is in. Once he finds that out, he can determine his own death and possibly find time to stop Eiffel from completing her book (and his life).
Just a positively fascinating concept for a story. One man realizing his death is imminent and trying to figure out how to stop it. It’s a great message about living your life to the fullest, but put in such a sincere way that it draws you in to actually put you in Crick’s place. It’s the type of film that makes you want to better yourself and wake-up. For Ferrell, who plays Harold Crick, it shows his comedic and dramatic side. The dramatic side is quite powerful, considering we’re all waiting for him to spring out with a joke or some type of ridiculous humor. Most people will go into this movie looking for that Talladega Nights type humor, but will either be sorely disappointed or positively moved by his play on Crick. After watching this film I ask myself, “Why the hell isn’t Ferrell doing more things like this? He’s convincing, moving and breathtaking (yet, still funny).” His supporting cast doesn’t hurt either, with Dustin Hoffman playing the raggedy professor who wants to help Crick, but doesn’t want to interfere in the process of the author and her work. He is quite the addition to the film’s personality, as is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Ana Pascal, who feels sorry for Crick and eventually falls for him. As for Emma Thompson, who plays the neurotic author trying to find Harold’s perfect ending, she is scary (yet, very believable). All of these characters bring together one of the most emotionally riveting stories in some time. It’s funny, it’s witty, it’s sad, it’s everything you would hope for in a simple film. It’s nearly flawless. That’s right, I said ‘nearly’.
The one true flaw to this film, one that most critics begged to have answered, but probably never found an answer to is there is no rhyme or reason why/how Harold’s life is being written. Eiffel isn’t God, nor is she portrayed as such, and there isn’t a clear connection between her or Harold. So the movie asks you to go along with the ride, but not truly giving you an explanation of how the ride was formed in the first place. Most people should (and probably were) curious about it, but the movie never answers that question. We’re just told to keep moving forward and keep our mouths shut. This is a major flaw for the film.
Overall, if you just don’t ask questions about it and keep moving forward, you’ll find inspiration here that will make you want to do better in life. It will ask you to do better and more than likely it will inspire you to do great things. If you sit back and watch it and ask how this all came to be it might very well ruin the moment.
I say enjoy the ride.
When feeling Blu is good
We reviewed this for another site, which shall go unnamed, on Blu-ray. It still maintains the quality that it first captured. The visuals are spectacular, especially when the graphics pop up with Ferrell at the beginning. The colors are vivid and simply put, gorgeous. The audio for this, while quite unnecessary, come to you in TrueHD 5.1 and could not sound better. Action films always make use of this, but it still sounds beautiful. I think there have been a few more movies that have translated better to HD, but still it looks quite good and sounds quite good.
As for the ‘special edition’ portion of this re-release, here’s what you’re looking at:
- Commentary with Director Marc Forster, Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman
- Filmmakers Commentary
- Never-Before-Seen Deleted & Extended Scenes
- Actors In Search of a Story
- Marc Forster discusses why each cast member is such an integral part of the film.
- Picking The Right Team
- Marc Forster discusses the importance and contribution of each of his “team” members including Director of Photography, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Writer, Producers, Editors, VFX team, etc
- On Location in Chicago
- An in-depth look at why Chicago was chosen as the place to shoot this film.
- Words on the Page
- Marc Forster, Screenwriter Zach Helm and Producer Lindsay Doran discuss what makes this script so unique
- Picture a Number: The Evolution of a G.U.I
- A visual effects piece discussing the graphics used in the film
- On the Set
- A montage of funny on-set moments
The features are quite good, especially the commentary. I have never been a huge fan of commentary, but Ferrell, Hoffman and Foster make a good team when it comes to discussing the film. The extended scenes are nice, as are the deleted scenes. The featurettes really drive the film and they give more insight to what went into the making of the film as a whole. I think they help with answering the question of why/how, but they still don’t answer it to the fullest extent.
Overall, the ‘special edition’ truly is a special edition and worthy of your Blu-ray shelf. They help the film, make it better and are more insightful than the original Blu-ray. BD-Live doesn’t hurt either.