Stranger Than Fiction

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some disturbing images, sexuality, brief language and nudity
Released in Theaters: Nov. 10, 2006

Funny guy Will Ferrell gets serious — sort of — in this movie about life, love and destiny. He plays Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who suddenly finds his thoughts and actions are being narrated by a voice in his head.

Only it turns out that the voice is real. It belongs to famous author Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), a tightly wound, chain-smoking knot of angst who, not coincidentally, is writing a book with a character named Harold Crick.

But Eiffel has terrible writer’s block and decides the only way she’ll break through is to kill off Crick (the character). But not if Crick (the real guy) has anything to say about it. Once he figures out her plan, he tries to find Eiffel and beg her to set him free.

He gets some help from Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), a literature professor who instructs him to find out if the novel he’s starring in is a comedy or tragedy, which is one of the funnier scenes in the movie.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Ferrell’s love interest, a baker he’s auditing. Queen Latifah plays Eiffel’s smart and patient assistant Penny. She’s underused, but seeing her in anything is a pleasure.

This movie can’t figure out if it’s a comedy, drama, romance, science fiction…but maybe it doesn’t have to. Maybe it can be all things to all people. Its best scenes are the tender little moments we can all relate to — shy banter between a guy and girl on a bus, the sweetness of a first date, a stressed-out accountant’s introduction to the joys of milk and cookies.

If you like wacky Will Ferrell (Ricky Bobby and Anchorman), you might not like this movie. But if you’ve been waiting for him to go all Jim Carrey and do some drama, give this a chance. He’s distractingly normal.