Stranger Than Fiction

“As Harold took a bite of Bavarian Sugar Cookie he finally felt as if everything was going to be OK. Sometimes when we lose ourselves in fear & despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness & tragedy – we can thank god for Bavaraian sugar cookies. And fortunately when there aren’t any cookies we can find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin or a kind and loving gesture or a subtle encouragement or a loving embrace or an offer of comfort. Not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish and soft spoken secrets and Fender Stratocasters and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things – the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties – which we assume only accessorise our days are for a much larger and nobler cause - They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange. But I also know that it so happens to be true” – Zack Helm, Writer


Quite a long way to start off a review. I know. But definitely a line worth sharing. Written by Zack Helm, Stranger than Fiction, is about Harold Crick – someone who would auto qualify for the “World’s Biggest Nerd” contest. He may in fact go on to win it. What with his capabilities of being able to multiply 11503 x 3486 on the fly (don’t hold me to the numbers please)? He is single. He counts the number of strokes he takes to brush his teeth every morning after he wakes up at exactly 7:13 am. He goes through the same routine diligently every morning before he gets to work by the 8:17 Metropolitan Bus. Now wait a minute – the worst is yet to come – He works for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS for short) – HE IS A TAXMAN!!!!!

All is seemingly fine in Harold’s life until one Wednesday morning he begins to hear a voice in his head describing everything that he is doing. A first Harold ignores it but after a few minutes it begins to get really irritating. Nothing that he does seems to get the voice out of his head. His structured days start going for a toss. As the constant narration gets to him, he has no other option but to see a shrink, Dr. Mittag Leffer (Linda Hunt) who diagnoses it as schizophrenia. Harold would hear nothing of it. His constant denial gets the good doc to guide him to Prof. Jules Hilbert who is an expert in Literature – since the Voice (Emma Thompson) is extremely eloquent and speaks in proper English. Adding to the spice, in a manner of speaking, is Ms. Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhall) who is a rebellious civilian who has not paid part of her taxes the previous year due to her objection to the money in which the taxes are being used.

The essence of STF is captured in the first paragraph of this review. However the core twist in the tale, the USP has to be seen to be believed. It is truly Stranger than Fiction to say the least. Zack Helm’s writing is superb and the narration is extremely tight. One may say that it gets slow in parts but that was absolutely required. Anything faster and we could have lost the plot. I have never been a huge fan of Will Ferrel but he has come up with an outstanding performance here. Probably his best to date. He is supported ably by Maggie Gyllenhaal who is definitely not THE most talented actress these days but can definitely act. Add to the fact that she looks normal which gets her to look just that bit sexier as well. I like her.

Add to this the extremely super talented troika of Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah and Dustin Hoffman. Emma plays the role of the voice and that of acclaimed author, Karen Eiffel who is stuck with the task of finishing her novel but is unable to do so since the lead character has to be killed. She is as always effortless in her acting. And that voice – so calm and composed and soothing to the ears. Rounding off the acting talent on display with Queen Latifah who plays Karen’s assistant and the oh so 60+ but yet cool and confident and still baby faced Dustin Hoffman. Marc Forster is indeed extremely lucky to have worked on a concept like STF with the cast that was on offer. STF is indeed a “different” movie – but even different movies have to be well executed. Very clearly a 7 on 10 minimum.