"Stranger" trailer
Just watched the trailer for Stranger Than Fiction (Columbia, 11.10). It's basically about Will Ferrell as an IRS agent named Harold Crick hearing his life being narrated by a woman's voice as he lives it, and the narrator turning out to be an actual writer named Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) working on a story about Crick's life. Zack Helm's script is a variation on an idea floated in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, which is that characters have wills of their own that argue with the plot decisions made by the writers who've created them. If you've ever worked on a screenplay you know how true this can be. At a certain point the characters tell you what they would do, and not vice versa. The costars are Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Tony Hale and Kristin Chenoweth.
...thoughts?
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 26, 2006 at 1:22 PM
comment #1
Chris No says ...
I'm suprised it took this long for someone to rip off Charlie Kaufman.
And don't give me the old everyone rips off everyone else chestnut.
This one is lazy, blatant and a glory grab from a second-rate junior hack.
Zach Helm almost makes me want to like Richard Darko.
Almost.
Posted by Chris No at July 26, 2006 1:46 PM
comment #2
Anonymous says ...
Um, how is this a rip off of Charlie Kauffman?
Posted by Anonymous at July 26, 2006 1:47 PM
comment #3
Chris No says ...
"Um, how is this a rip off of Charlie Kaufman?"
Are you kidding?
Did you see Adaptation?
You think you're going to trip me up by taking that kind of nonchalant tone, as if you have no idea how I could ever come up with that kind of conclusion?
Go rent Adaptation.
Then watch the trailer.
And if you can't tell where the screenwriter got his idea from, then God bless you.
Posted by Chris No at July 26, 2006 2:09 PM
comment #4
mike says ...
It's definitely Kaufman-lite, but it still looks like one of the better ideas that could come out of people trying to capture that same spirit.
the movie looks alright, I was kind of hoping for something a little darker when I first heard the concept. Could go either way at this point.
Posted by mike at July 26, 2006 2:21 PM
comment #5
Bill says ...
It's completely different than Adapation. Chris is just trying to seem 'cool'.
Posted by Bill at July 26, 2006 2:22 PM
comment #6
Ross says ...
This does look very much like a rip off of Kaufman's work. But not knowing the story behind the screenplay, you can't say that for sure. This might have been something floating around for a while, before Adaptation came out... or it might just be a blatant rip off. If that's the case, at least he found someone worth stealing ideas from.
Either way it looks like a pretty fun movie to me, with Marc Forster directing I think it has a good chance of being a well made movie.
Posted by Ross at July 26, 2006 2:22 PM
comment #7
NYCBusybody says ...
I can't get the trailer to run here at work...
How exactly does she make him hear the voice? Or is it just metaphyiscally unexplained?
Posted by NYCBusybody at July 26, 2006 2:22 PM
comment #8
jesse says ...
As Chris No points out, Charlie Kaufman was the first screenwriter to ever, in the history of popular art and/or entertainment, utilize the idea of a character interacting with his/her creator or some other kind of meta outside force.
You may remember a Daffy Duck cartoon called "Duck Amuck." You might think it came out in 1953. But you'd be wrong -- and Chris No will tell you, in stacatto one-sentence paragraphs you're sure to love!
(And I love Kaufman.)
Posted by jesse at July 26, 2006 2:24 PM
comment #9
Take A Chill Pill says ...
Chris No is obviously a failed, bitter filmmaker.
Relax, Chris No. Almost all of us are failed filmmakers here. It doesn't mean that everybody who has made is a hack.
Posted by Take A Chill Pill at July 26, 2006 2:30 PM
comment #10
Mike says ...
i think it looks good. I'm a failed filmaker too!!!
Posted by Mike at July 26, 2006 2:34 PM
comment #11
Jojo says ...
Everyone keeps bringing up Kaufman but when this project was announced, it reminded me of those great writer vs. character skits that they used to do on The Carol Burnett Show.
Posted by Jojo at July 26, 2006 2:36 PM
comment #12
Eddie says ...
Good preview..but it gives away a little too much I think.
Posted by Eddie at July 26, 2006 2:41 PM
comment #13
Mark G. says ...
It's the first Will Ferrell movie I'm gonna see voluntary
Posted by Mark G. at July 26, 2006 2:42 PM
comment #14
Mark says ...
What about the line explaining to us that the the end is actually the beginning? Such an obvious rip off of Mememto.
Actually, why would i hold the fact that it's reminiscent of old-school Woody or recent Kaufman against the film? Is smart and surreal suddenly passe? That said, who thinks it has a snowballs chance of passing $30 million domestically?
Posted by Mark at July 26, 2006 2:55 PM
comment #15
Mark says ...
Mememto? What's that? Memento.
Posted by Mark at July 26, 2006 2:58 PM
comment #16
Anonymous says ...
You're right.
The idea came from Chuck Jones.
And Dustin Hoffman's character hasn't been lifted from I Heart Huckabees.
The idea came from Hanna-Barbera.
Posted by Anonymous at July 26, 2006 3:06 PM
comment #17
Kyle says ...
Tough crowd. Looks pretty good to me.
Posted by Kyle at July 26, 2006 3:07 PM
comment #18
Mathew says ...
Looks well made. I wasn't sure of the title until the preview but everything seems to gel. Ok so it feels like Kaufman-lite and doesn't seem deep or arty enough to be considered a classic along side Eternal Sunshine or Being JM. Too bad they can't open it sooner as I think Teletubbie Nights is going to be the sleeper hit of the late summer. They could make some extra change off of the the Ferrell Factor.
Posted by Mathew at July 26, 2006 3:42 PM
comment #19
ULE says ...
"who thinks it has a snowballs chance of passing $30 million domestically"
You mean this is opening in some sort of wide release?
Posted by ULE at July 26, 2006 4:28 PM
comment #20
Aladdin Sane says ...
It looks entertaining. I'm sure Helm is aware enough of Kauffman, and hopefully in writing the story he came up with something interesting that'll set it apart.
Posted by Aladdin Sane at July 26, 2006 4:36 PM
comment #21
Mark says ...
Wide release? Dunno, but Forester's last film made over $50 million. I don't see this nearly as accessible or garnering any traction come awards time.
I'm still interested.
Posted by Mark at July 26, 2006 5:49 PM
comment #22
Anonymous says ...
3 POINT SIX MILLION...
Not 50.
Posted by Anonymous at July 26, 2006 5:56 PM
comment #23
Nick says ...
Everyone forgets "Stay." Probably better that way.
Posted by Nick at July 26, 2006 6:01 PM
comment #24
Mark says ...
Ha! Yes, i forgot Stay.
STF should split the difference.
Posted by Mark at July 26, 2006 6:49 PM
comment #25
Lee G. says ...
This rings like The Truman Show to me. I love Will Ferrell's comedies, but when he gets into that in-between comedy-drama thing, he's just too damn dorky to have me believe it. As a comedic actor, hilarious. I've yet to see him pull the venerated "Tom Hanks" career move.
Posted by Lee G. at July 26, 2006 7:52 PM
comment #26
Edward Mullhouse says ...
The idea of "characters with wills of their own" wasn't invented by Charlie Kaufman, Woody Allen, or Chuck Jones. The two most artful examples of this trope are probably: Pirandello's 1921 play, "Six Characters in Search of an Author" and Flann O'Brien's 1939 novel, "At Swim-Two-Birds." A more recent example may be found in Robert Coover's 1968 novel, "The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop."
On the less-than-artful side, there is also 1971's "Midnight Never Ends," an episode of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery."
So the idea isn't new, but few ideas are. It's what you do with it that counts.
Posted by Edward Mullhouse at July 27, 2006 1:20 AM
comment #27
Edward Mullhouse says ...
Now that I see the character's name is HAROLD CRICK, another book comes to mind: "HAROLD and the Purple Crayon," by CROCKett Johnson (also once upon a time a Spike Jonze project).
Harold Crick
Harold Crockett
Zach Helm's true inspiration?
Posted by Edward Mullhouse at July 27, 2006 1:30 AM
comment #28
Christopher Lee says ...
looks good. nice to see Ferrell stretching a bit.
i saw two chicago actor/improvisors (Peter Grosz & TJ Jagodowski)show up in the background a couple of times as Ferrell's coworkers. They're the guys from those casual Sonic commercials.
Posted by Christopher Lee at July 27, 2006 8:20 AM
comment #29
bward says ...
Isn't the whole fact that they decided to promote the film using a TRAILER ripping off every single movie ever made!?! My gawd, the unmitigated gall of those studio hacks!
Posted by bward at July 27, 2006 10:19 AM
comment #30
Anonymous says ...
Burnett did this routine frequently on her show; I also seem to recall a similar sketch on SNL back in the 70s.
Posted by Anonymous at July 27, 2006 11:31 AM
comment #31
cadavra says ...
Oops! Forgot to sign that last post!
Posted by cadavra at July 27, 2006 11:31 AM
comment #32
EM says ...
Then there's Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and Orson Welles' "Fountain of Youth."
Posted by EM at July 28, 2006 5:24 AM