Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Stranger Than Fiction (2006), directed by Marc Forster.
quote
Shrink: Mr Crick, I hate to sound like a broken record, but that's schizophrenia.
Harold: You don't sound like a broken record, but it's just not schizophrenia. What if what I said was true? Hypothetically speaking, if I was part of a story, a narrative, even if it was only in my mind, what would you suggest that I do?
Shrink: I would suggest you take prescribed medication.
Harold: Other than that.
A very "meta" tale of a bland, seemingly depressed IRS auditor who hears his life being narrated as if he is a character in a book. Until: "Little did he know that his imminent death--". Wait... now what?
His next assignment is a manic pixie anarchist baker who refuses to pay that part of her taxes that goes to war-making. And you know what: she's just what he needs.
It is clever and has funny bits, but I find the whole project a bit cold. Homes and offices seem sterile, although the bakery is naturally warmer. Two things bother me:
The conceit that a literary death is more important than an actual life. The characters really act as if they believe this.
Maybe I'm disturbed by the implication that this is more than just a literary comedy, that it implies we are all poor players who strut and fret our hour on the stage in a tale told by an idiot. Despairing, middle of the night thoughts.
I'm not sure how "meta" the story really is. Does the Harold in the book also hear his life being narrated? The movie doesn't say so, but I don't know else to account for the magical phone call to the author's office as she types the lines.
Our cast:
Will Ferrell seems like the classic funnyman with a crying clown inside. I've never appreciated his wacky comedy, but this is dialed back to something different. (An aside: I suppose everyone gives up on "Saturday Night Live" at some point. He was after my time).
Maggie Gyllenhaal is the baker of heart and soul with impressive tats. It takes a lot of compassion to bake cookies for your IRS auditor.
Emma Thompson is our chain-smoking eccentric and slightly sociopathic author. Love her.
Queen Latifah is a specialty assistant sent by the publisher to make sure writer's block doesn't cause missed deadlines. She's mostly wasted because her character isn't given much to do.
Dustin Hoffman is the English prof consulting Harold on his dilemma. Nice office.
Linda Hunt has one scene as an entirely correct but not very helpful shrink.
Little bits:
The English prof is reading a Sue Grafton detective novel while lifeguarding at the pool.
Are clouds moving on his painted office wall?
I remember the use of digital info overlays seemed funny and clever at the time. We've seen it more since, often showing what is on people's phones without isolating on the device.
Excessively odd camera positions, like from within his shower head, looking out through the holes.
What romantic gift do you bring a baker? Flours. Ha ha.
Filmed in Chicago.
Available on Blu-ray. The early mpeg2 video encoding looks quite nice to me, a good representation of the clarity and coolness of this world. A later special edition is said to have commentary tracks, but these are not on my older disc.
