The Tears Of A Clown
by Flick Chick Vique
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I give Stranger Than Fiction 4 Red Vines for being an artful, life affirming comedy. |
Anytime life gets too weird to believe I have to ask, “Who writes this stuff?!” The question that has never occurred to me before is more to the point for your life as well as mine, “Am I in a comedy or a tragedy?” Unfortunately, we won’t know the answer until the final act.
Yet, it’s a great question to contemplate and is the very one that plagues Will Ferrell’s character in Stranger Than Fiction. In it, Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS auditor whose ordinary life of routine activities turns upside down when he suddenly finds his life being narrated by a voice only he can hear. Meanwhile, in another part of town, a celebrated novelist (Emma Thompson) struggles with writer’s block. As she eeks out scene after scene, we come to realize that she is the voice over Ferrell hears and his life story is the one she’s trying to complete.
The story is wildly inventive and will make first time screenwriter Zach Helm a hot commodity. If you like the creativity found in screenplays like Memento, Being John Malkovich or Adaptation, then you’re going to love Stranger Than Fiction.
And move over Tom Hanks and Jim Carey! With this performance, Will Ferrell joins the ranks of fellow TV comedy actors turned serious movie actors. This may be one of the first movies that Ferrell does not run around screaming in his underwear but his fans will not be disappointed by the lack of insanity. Once again, it is a matter of someone ‘being’ funny rather than ‘acting’ funny.
Maggie Gyllenhaal (boy has she been busy! This is my third movie this year with her reviewed!) does a sweet job as a pastry chef who gets audited by Ferrell but eventually succumbs to his clumsy, sad charm. Dustin Hoffman, as a scholar who tries to help the confused and frightened auditor, wisely lets Ferrell shine. And Emma Thompson does a great job as a frumpy, sleep deprived, somewhat desperate author. Her narration is impeccable and she is Ferrell’s main acting partner.
From the clever graphic treatment at the movie’s open, you know you are in for an ‘artistic’ good time. And although you might doubt it at times, the movie opts for lightness not darkness in the end. But expect to shed some tears with the laughter during the many twists and turns that are the life of Harold Crick. After all, life is Stranger Than Fiction and way more emotional!
Did you see it?
Tell us what you thought of it!
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