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Product Description

Will Ferrell stars as Harold Crick, a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life. With the help of Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), Harold discovers he's the main character in a novel-in-progress and that the voice belongs to Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), an eccentric author famous for killing her main characters in creative ways. Harold must quickly track down Eiffel and stop her before she conjures up a way to finish him off.

Amazon.com

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

Product details

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 5.25 x 0.5 inches; 3.11 Ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Marc Forster
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, AC-3
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 53 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ December 2, 2008
Actors ‏ : ‎ Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson
Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, French
Producers ‏ : ‎ Lindsay Doran
Studio ‏ : ‎ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001GF8WPI
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #61,981 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #3,180 in Comedy (Movies & TV)
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H. Bala

"Get bent, TAX MAAAAN!"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 5, 2007

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STRANGER THAN FICTION is a film about a man named Harold Crick who one day hears a posh female voice narrating his life story inside his noggin. STRANGER THAN FICTION is also about a cigarette-wielding author afflicted with a decade-long writer's block, a kid on a bike, a female bus driver, and a fateful wristwatch. The storyline gains impetus when the seemingly omniscient voice matter-of-factly states that Harold's death is imminent. This was one of the movies that got away from me during its theatrical reign. I meant to see it, but somehow never got around to it. Now, months later, before popping in the dvd, I must admit to having had a certain trepidation concerning Will Ferrell's performance. His prior goofy cinematic works gave no real indication that he could consistently pull off this serious role. The very pleasant news is that, yes, indeed, he can. As Harold Crick, you never catch him veering off character, and his effectively low key effort results in a more gratifying and a more resonant cinematic experience for his avid fans as well as the more casual onlookers.

The cast really is very well assembled. Emma Thompson's twitchy and neurotic performance as author Karen Eiffel is complemented by her immaculately crisp and modulated, sublimely British vocal delivery, which provides the frighteningly accurate narrative voice in Harold's head. Dustin Hoffman adds a certain authority and a welcome layer of quirkiness to his role of Lit. Professor Jules Hilbert, who becomes interested in Harold's dilemma. The awesome, pixie-cute Maggie Gyllenhaal sparkles as the very sassy and independent cookie maker Ana Pascal, whose immediate on-screen chemistry with Ferrell serves to underscore the pre-Ana Pascal regimented emptiness in his life. Queen Latifah is also here, resplendent in business attire. Thankfully, very little of her rap persona shows up in her performance as Karen Eiffel's assistant. She is convincing enough in her role that, pretty soon, I stopped looking at her and thinking, "Hey, that's Queen Latifah!"

But, despite the rest of the stellar cast and their excellent contributions, it's leading star Will Ferrell who gives STRANGER THAN FICTION its heart and soul. He has never been more engaging. He saturates his Harold Crick with an aching loneliness and a painful awkwardness (especially around Ana) that are so palpable that one immediately feels a sympathetic connection to him. Excellent job by Ferrell, who I didn't know had it in him to muster the acting chops to effectively internalize. My favorite moment has to be Harold strumming his guitar and quietly singing the Monkee's "I'd Go the Whole Wide World" with unaffected earnestness.

The special features offer 6 comprehensive behind-the-scenes featurettes: "Actors in Search of a Story"; "Building the Team" - this breaks down the film's writing/directing/cinematic collaboration; "On Location in Chicago" - about the deliberations that went into the determining of the location (and how Chicago's architecture nicely complements Harold's inner mathematical world); "Words on a Page" - this focuses on Zach Helm, who wrote STRANGER THAN FICTION; "Picture a Number: the Evolution of a G.U.I." - this is an informative featurette which adds even more heft to Harold's character as it reveals how the graphic designers used Graphic User Interface to illustrate the world as seen from Harold's perspective; "On the Set" - an unnecessary three minutes of quick camera shots of cast & crew.

There's also an extended, part-improvisational scene (6 and a half minutes long) of Karen Eiffel being interviewed on the Book Channel by Darlene Sunshine (as played with dense peppiness by Kristin Chenoweth) and a 5-minute-long deleted scene of "author" Peter Allen Prothero also being interviewed by Darlene Sunshine on the Book Channel. What's missing here is an audio commentary. It would've been nice to hear comments from Ferrell, Gyllenhaal, Hoffman, and Thompson.

To me, STRANGER THAN FICTION rates four and a half stars. My only complaint about the movie - and it's a minor one - is that the ending didn't follow thru on the promise begun with the high concept premise. The outcome of Harold Crick is ultimately up to Karen Eiffell, who holds the power of God over him. Eiffell finds herself conflicted as she must choose between the perfect closing chapter for her novel versus her new affinity for her made-up character Harold Crick, who has strangely become a breathing, living person in his own right.

STRANGER THAN FICTION is an engaging fable which convincingly argues for upending the tired conventions which sticks one in a rut. It calls for you and me to imbue each precious moment with a passion for living. Countless movies before have espoused this mantra, but few have delivered it with such delicate panache. For example, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, warm and memorable though it is and as much as I love it, chooses to hammer home its message (Capra always was unabashedly sentimental, and there's nothing wrong with that). STRANGER THAN FICTION is wonderfully bolstered by a perceptive script from Zach Helm, a great ensemble cast who breathes vivid life into the richly textured roles, and a very capable directing job by Marc Forster. On the surface, this might seem to be an unorthodox comedy, but as you go deeper into the film, while it does maintain a certain level of levity, it gradually takes on a darker and a more dramatic feel. Just go with the flow and you will reap cinematic dividends. So far, this is the best Will Ferrell I've seen in feature films. While I do expect to bump into him most often in the realm of zany comedy, every once in a while, I'll look for him to stretch his thespian wings and expand into more challenging roles...

2 people found this helpful

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Eric Hutchins

The film that should have won best movie instead of "American Beauty"...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 12, 2011

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First Preface: This movie was so entertaining at so many different levels that I wish Amazon could organize their movie reviews in a more dynamic way so I could "get at" the more interesting, insightful ones faster.

Second Preface: I was angry and embarrassed when Hollywood saw fit to give "American Beauty" the Oscar for Best Picture and then claim the award was all about the film's "transcendental irony," "magical realism," etc. "Stranger than Fiction" is several times cleverer and more transcendental (magical? surreal?), and not so much as a whisper of attention that I am aware of. Never mind that "American Beauty" came out several years before this one. They should have passed over "American Beauty" anyway and held out for something that was REALLY entertaining, uplifting, AND truly out-of-the-mold, avant garde, etc.

I bought this movie after enjoying Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Secretary" opposite James Spader. When I want to see more of a particular actor after seeing one of their films, I look them up on Amazon and read the reviews of the films with the best average ratings. For Gyllenhaal, "Stranger than Fiction" attracted my attention and the list of other actors in the film sealed the deal.

As others have noted, five minutes into this movie I knew I was going to REALLY LOVE it. Everybody was photographed so well. The writing was superb... as was every actor's performance.

Some other points worth mentioning:

1. As full an experience as this film was/is, the extras made it that much more so. Generous, illuminating, and a completion of an already superb experience.

2. The integration of GUI-style graphics in this film broke new ground in my experience by adding a whole new layer of information about what the main character is thinking as he is acting, AND being narrated by the voice-over of Emma Thompson's character. How RICH and COOL is that?! Previously, a similar GUI device was used in the "Terminator" to underscore the fact that "The Arnold's" character was a cyborg. USed her with a human, it added an extra dimension of description of the (human) character. Given a choice, this film buff would prefer to see this device explored more fully by Hollywood than the rehash of 3-D.

3. I am intrigued by one of the opening scenes in which Ms. Thompson's character steps off of a tall building. I knew she was going to do it, but I could not look away. Once it became clear that the author with writer's block was not deceased, I am at a complete loss as to why it is in the film... all the more reason to watch the movie a seccond time in as many days.

4. Maggie Gyllenhaal does not disappoint. Quite the opposite. Who is this woman? In an effort to find out, I'm going back for another of her movies. Also, as a result of her perrformance in this movie and "Secretary," I will trust the next movie that comes out with her in it... I trust her judgement that much... first rate... ditto the director.

5. For me, this movie was wonderful in the same strange and magical way as M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" and I hope to discover others situated in this odd nether world between realism and surrealism... perhaps I will give Robin William's "What Dreams May Come" another viewing.

6. After a few days and a reading of Henry David Thoreau's essay, "Civil Disobedience," I have an elevated appreciation for the subtext of civil disobediance undertaken by Miss Gyllenhaal's character, and by the choice to write the hero as a functionary for the IRS. As described by Thoreau, Ms. Gylenhaal's character is Thoreau's avatar in her insistance on living her life from the inside-out, and resisting the government's interest in her support for policies with which she disagrees (implied by her refusal to pay her taxes in proportion to the size of the government's expenditures for things with which she disagrees). Likewise, the fact that she becomes involved with (in essence) a tax collector who is more machine than man makes this association even more compelling. Any reading of Thoreau's essay will convince the reader that it was a powerful influence that shaped this story line. Interestingly, this is only hinted at in the special feature commentaries by Miss Gyllenhaal.

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Call me Al

Carpe Diem

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 23, 2017

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A restrained Will Ferrell is on top form in this intelligent existential rom-com fantasy as Harold Crick, a lonely Federal tax inspector who leads a regimented uneventful life until two unexpected events occur which turn his world upside down. While investigating and auditing the tax return of a tattooed bakery shop owner he falls head-over-heels for his client and he also begins to hear a voice in his head narrating in real time his actions and thoughts. With the assistance of a literary professor the owner of the voice is identified and confronted, leading to both narrator and protagonist having to make decisions which affect them both. There are undoubtedly traces of Charlie Kaufman’s Being John Malkovich and Adaptation present in this unconventional screenplay but this film is nowhere near as dark as those two movies, although it does have its contemplative moments. Dustin Hoffman , Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal all contribute greatly to making this quirky offering an intriguing and entertaining meditation on fate and free-will.

7 people found this helpful

Nicholas Casley

Death by Novel-Writing, or "Little Did He Know ..."

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 20, 2011

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I'm not going to make any great claims for this movie, and yet it is thoroughly enjoyable, a little gem of marvel and wit. I was attracted to it by its Charlie Kaufman-esque plot, the splendid cast, and by the fact that the job Will Ferrell's character does in the movie is mine own. And lord knows it's not a job that appears THAT often in the movies: even librarians and dentists get more airtime than us roving taxmen.

It's opening narration (by the Emma Thompson character) announces to the audience that, "This is a story about a man named Harold Crick ... and his wristwatch." Which is not really true, but yet it is. (I did say the clever script is Kaufman-esque.) Really, the film is about death and taxes, or rather death in the context of taxes; we must all face death at some point, after all. You could also say that the film's overarching theme is death by novel-writing, with the written phrase "Little did he know, ..." taking an important role in the plot. (I hope this review makes you intrigued rather than confused!)

But not only is the script clever; it is also very funny without being necessarily comedic. There are some great gags involving, for example, bendi-buses, but the humour is mostly realistically situational in day-to-day terms. Of course, as the story unfolds and we get to know our characters more, pathos trumps comedy, or rather the balance of tragic-comedy shifts towards the former, "without betraying the audience" according to the film's producer (well, almost).

Buying the DVD is useful because on subsequent screenings you get to see the little details that were maybe missed on previous occasions. For instance, when Harold Crick talks to the tax office shrink the cloudscape behind Harold's head is stationary, but when Crick starts to daydream it starts to move very slowly. Another example is the brief second-of-a-clip where we see Harold in his lunch break looking at catalogues of ... calculators and other adding machines. You soon discover too that all the characters in the film bear the surnames of famous and not-so-famous mathematicians. (Dr Mittag-Leffler anyone?)

There is a generous helping of extras on my version of the DVD, with two deleted/extended scenes and over an hour's worth of featurettes. Here the producer makes the valid point that, "The best comedy always has deep pain underneath it and then the further you go into the pain inevitably there are going to be jokes there." As an example, she uses the response of Will Ferrell's character to the question put by that of Dustin Hoffman's (a professor of English literature): "I may already be dead ... just not [yet] typed."

6 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Enjoyable movie with an unusual twist

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 12, 2012

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A really interesting movie with an charming storyline that requires you to suspend belief, but somehow pulls it off. I won't repeat the other reviews and give you a detailed overview of the plot, suffice to say that Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), wakes up one day and finds he's a character in a novel, and the author is going to kill him off at the end. The first serious role I've seen Ferrell in, and he's excellent, as are his co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman. Great chemistry between them in all the major scenes. I was less convinced by the Emma Thompson character as the author Karen Eiffel who was writing the novel that Harold is a character in. Eiffel appears to be in some kind of therapy cell for authors with writer's block (Uh?), which seems a bit over the top. Ditto the slightly sinister big brother 'minder' she has living with her 24/7, to 'encourage' her to finish the novel. I'm not sure that angle was strictly necessary. It introduced a slightly dystopian, futuristic element that seemed at odds with the rest of the storyline. Screenwriter Zach Helm could just as easily have had her writing the novel at home, struggling with the ending, as most writers do. I feel it was the only point where Helm got a bit too clever for himself. However, all in all it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the film. Helm deserves special praise for coming up with a quite original storyline, in these depressing times of formulaic genre movies and endless sequels. The dialogue was sharp, spare, witty and clever, making it a warm, funny two hours. There's kind of a moral in there too, but it's not layered on with a trowel. It's not the kind of movie I usually watch, but I was intrigued by the literary angle, and am glad I bought it. Well worth a watch, and a four star rating. Nice feelgood one to curl up on the sofa with a loved one and a glass of something.

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Pianissimo

An unusual and interesting film

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 12, 2013

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This film features a novelist, Karen Eiffel, (Emma Thompson) who is suffering from writer's block; her dilemma is that she does not know how to kill off her latest hero. And Will Ferrell plays the part of Harold Crick, a lonely tax man who hears a mysterious voice narrating his life and wonders who on earth the voice belongs to. So, he turns to Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) for help and advice, and eventually discovers that he is the main character in Karen Eiffel's book. This is a very clever, and original, film and it is also very funny! Also,if you are into books and literature, as I am, you might like the idea of a fictional character being a real person at the same time! I give a 5-star rating - this film is brilliant!

NotThatPeggy

Loved this film

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 16, 2009

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This is a wonderful film, funny, intelligent and subtle. The fact that Emma Thompson was in it is why I originally hired it, this outweighed my avoidance on principle of all Will Ferrel films. I've changed my mind, he is as good in this as Jim Carrey was in 'Eternal Sunshine' and I wish both would give acting a try more often.

Faultless support from Maggie Gyllenhall and Dustin Hoffmann. I really enjoyed this film, well worth the rental and I shall be buying it.

If you're fed up with SFX blockbusters with no real plot, give it a try.

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Genre	Drama, Drama Romance
Format	Blu-ray, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, AC-3
Contributor	Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson, Lindsay Doran, Crick Pictures LLC; Mandate Pictures, LLC, Will Ferrell, Marc Forster See more
Language	English, French
Runtime	1 hour and 53 minutes

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Stranger Than Fiction (Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]

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