DVD Review: Stranger Than Fiction

OK, podcast is going very well, I have had a fair few downloads and it is now officially up on iTunes so you can get it from there. I really wish I had the time to review this on the next podcast but its going to be pretty long anyway.

DVD Review: Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Foster, 2006, USA).

Will Ferrell has always had a rather interesting career. Starting off as one of the best things to ever hit Saturday Night Live, he then hit movies first in supporting roles, notably in the first two Austin Powers movies. He soon broke out into leading man status in both comedy gold like Anchorman or Wedding Crashers and real crap like Kicking & Screaming. Lately he has tried balancing his more wacky roles with serious work. He got good reviews for his role as a Woody Allen substitute in Melinda & Melinda and now follows his biggest hit to date Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby with Stranger Than Fiction.
Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a man who lives his life doing the exact same things at the exact same time every day. His life changes when he starts hearing a British woman's voice in his head, a voice who turns out to belong to an author, Karen Ifill (Emma Thompson). With the help of a literature professor, Harold starts living his life unpredictably to try and stop what the voice calls in his head his "imminent death".
Right from the start, you know that this film is going to be special. The visual effects in the opening sequence do not feel annoying as they could well be, but they feed the plot. This follows through throughout the whole film. Everything in it is to add to the plot, it is rare that you see a film where you feel that nothing is extraneous, that nothing could be cut out. This film is full of wonderful little moments, right from the start. While at the start it feels like Will Ferrell's sense of comedy could overwhelm the film, this is soon reined in. Ferrell delivers a wonderfully understated performance, rather like that of Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine.., and this is likely the best role of his career so far in terms of pure acting. His quest to discover what is happening also works on many levels. Not only are we intrigued by whether Crick will die or not, we also see him start to live life, be it learning to play the guitar, or fall in love (with Maggie Gylenhall, which has got to be easy!). Not only this but the question of the life of art beyond those who are involved in its creation and whether it means more than the value of the individuals lives is also raised in a suprising and intensly pleasing way.
The supporting roles are also incredibly well cast and performed. Dustin Hoffman strikes a perfect balance between intelligence and kookiness and is able to move this somewhat unbelievable plot forward in an entirely real way. Emma Thompson as the writer brings the right amount of pathos to a character who has to deal with struggle after struggle. Maggie Gylenhall is also sassy, sexy and believably rebellious in a stronge role in what is a good film for strong female roles. Marc Foster must also be congratulated for creating an intelligent and yet really pleasing piece of cinema.
This film is a pure joy from start to finish. It may sound hyperbolic but I feel it is the kind of film which reaffirms that cinema can show us truly great things which can inspire emotions in us that many other artforms can only dream of. A real treat of a film and one I cannot recommend highly enough.

Video: Fine, slightly sharp, looking forward to seeing the Blu-Ray version.

Audio: Nice DD 5.1 soundtrack, never gets too involving but this isn't the type of film that calls for it.

Extras: Haven't seen them yet, look a bit disapointing.

Great, great film, enough said.