Movie: Stranger Than Fiction

I love the movie Stranger Than Fiction. It stars Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman. The synopsis is this: A dull, ordinarily boring man, Harold Crick (Ferrell) is going about his life when he hears an author's voice, narrating the simple mundane tasks he performs. And little did he know the voice would ultimately announce his impending death.

With the assistance of a college literature professor (Hoffman), Crick sets out to find out who he is, who the voice is, and to do something meaningful with his life. Like maybe eating nothing but pancakes.

The movie is pretty entertaining, even if you don't like Will Ferrell. He doesn't play the kooky, comical characters most of us are used to. He plays a pretty mundane guy who freaks out, as we probably all would, when he finds out his death is imminent.

The film is directed by Marc Forster, a British chap who directed Monster's Ball, Quantum of Solace, Finding Neverland, and the upcoming World War Z (please don't suck, please don't suck). He does a great job of blending fiction, visualization, and "real life" within the movie.

Another plus for the film is the use of overlaying graphics and text in specific scenes, used to define how Crick sees the world. The graphics add something cool, it kinda brings the viewer into the movie a bit more than a standard movie would. I wish they actually took the graphics further into the film. The use of the graphic slowly tapers down, but it doesn't exactly match Crick's upward swing of having a life. You'll get that once you see the movie.

The best part of the film, for me, is the scene set on an articulated bus. The use of this setting was pretty fantastic.

Overall, I think it's a great movie, one that can be watched a couple of times. A must-have for your movie collection.