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List Price: $14.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 4177
Released: February 27, 2007 |
| Our Price: $4.35 |
| Used Price: $1.43 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
An IRS auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to effect his entire life from his work to his love-interest to his death.System Requirements:Running Time: 113 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 043396154070 Manufacturer No: 15407
Description of Stranger Than Fiction:
Much was written about Will Ferrell's first "dramatic role" as Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who begins hearing a voice narrating his life. But Stranger Than Fiction is hardly a drama. However, what Ferrell does--like Jim Carrey before him in The Truman Show--is handle a toned-down character with genuineness and affection: you believe he is this guy. Crick leads a lonely life filled with numbers and routines. While at first he considers the voice a nuisance, Crick decides more action is needed when it speaks of "his demise." Enter Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), who takes on the absurd notion with revelry, trying to find out what kind of book Crick's life is leading. It turns out that the voice Crick is hearing belongs to Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), a very real--and troubled--author who is writing a book in which Crick is a fictional character. As usual with these things, the stuffed shirt learns to live a better life--Crick even falls for one of his audits, a brash baker named Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Marc Foster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) has the right tone for the film, using great urban scenes (the unnamed city is Chicago) with interesting visualizations of Crick's world of numbers. He also directs Ferrell, Hoffman, and Gyllenhaal to their most charming performances (plus Linda Hunt and Tom Hulce pop up in two funny scenes). Ferrell succeeds in being a romantic lead you can root for; a scene where he eats Ana's freshly baked cookies is totally delightful without a hint of sarcasm. Screenwriter Zach Helm has two personal traits with his story: like Crick he followed his heart (he stopped rewriting scripts and only worked on his own) and like Eiffel, the final results are not a masterpiece, but good, and entertaining enough. Britt Daniel of the band Spoon worked on the dynamite soundtrack.--Doug Thomas
Extras from Stranger Than Fiction
"Counting Brush Strokes," A featurette
on the filming of Stranger Than Fictionhigh bandwidth
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Tax Man!:
A clip from the film
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Queen Latifah on working with Emma Thompson
high bandwidth
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Stills from Stranger Than Fiction (click for larger image)
Beyond Stranger Than Fiction on Amazon.com
Comic Actors Go Dramatic |
CD Soundtrack |
Emma Thompson Essentials |
Stranger Than Fiction Reviews:
Same basic story, clever new revision 
2008-09-27 - Okay, I'm a sucker for the classic story of someone-finding-out-they-are-about-to-die-and-review-their-life-for-the-good. It's been done many a time, but I guess every once in a while there is a new way to look at this tried-and-true concept. This odd little gem is one of them.
The movie does not make sense, but that is part of the charm. A quirky writers' block-stricken author is in the middle of a novel about a man who just so happens to be an actual human being... and literature and reality begin to collide. A boring IRS agent is followed by a narration of his life, while the author has no clue what she is doing... even as she announces his upcoming death.
This is delightfully quirky and well-acted, with the right blend of comedy and drama that makes for something truly heartfelt. One of the greatest movies to come along in awhile.
INSULTING CHARLIE KAUFFMAN BY COMPARISON 
2008-09-22 - I guess I saw a different movie than most of the other posters here. The movie I saw seemed like a poorly constructed Twilight Zone episode, not at all a Charlie Kauffman type film.
In my opinion, the film quickly falls apart under the shaky rules it establishes. The central problem--in addition to this seeming like a cliche from a Carol Burnett show--is that the writer herself lives in the same world as her creation. This poses all sorts of questions. For instance, if she's writing about his job/apartment, how did he come to gain employment and a job in an office in the real world? Is the office where he works also her creation? Is the apartment building? Since she also seems to control the romance between Ferrell and Maggie Gillengall(sp?), does that mean Gillengall is another character she dreamed up? If not, why does Gillengall do exactly what the author tells her to do when describing the romantic scene between Gillengall and Ferrell?
Perhaps the film might have worked better if the author created the character and he then stepped into the real world (ala Woody Allen's "Purple Rose of Cairo"), but even so, the prose the writer puts out is laughably amateurish. This novel would not see the light of day (99% tell, 1% show) and even if it did, Thompson would hardly be a respected author.
Lame. Pretentious. Predictable.
Enjoyable comedy with original twist 
2008-07-19 - Will Ferrell stars in this oddball comedy of an IRS tax agent who starts hearing his life narrated, with impending doom.
This kind of reminded me of "The Truman Show", as Will Ferrell's character, alarmed at the prospect of imminent death, starts taking more risks and stops living the boring life he was used to. However, I didn't think Will Ferrell was really in his element on this one. Does anyone really see Will Ferrell as an IRS tax agent?
The film has its moments, and overall, I thought it was good, but there are a lot of better books, movies, etc. out there to see.
Love it
2008-07-10 - This movie is stranger than fiction! Give reality a break and visit your imagination for this delightfully mellow uplifting movie. Will F. is convincing and charming. Love it.
Not my type but very smart film! 
2008-07-08 - Well, I read the script and watched the film as well.
The movie delivers the script very precisly.
Will did his job very well, even better than the script itself.
Let's say the smartest three film I saw in 21th centuty are 1. Stranger than fiction 2. Eternal sunshine 3. Mamma Mia.
And I want to put this movie at the top of the list.
