comment #1

Craig Kennedy says ...

Stranger than Fiction works. I found it very enjoyable. If my reading of his previous comments is correct, Jeff's just pissed off because the movie didn't bother to answer his logistical questions and for him this smacked of lazy filmmaking.

Maybe, maybe not, but the movie set up its own world and never contradicted itself. That's really all I ask. The central conceit of having Will Ferrell be able to hear author Emma Thompson narrate his life is really just a hook used ultimately to tell a pretty simple and sweet love story. This is not boundary pushing, genre bending stuff here, but so what? For whatever reason, Wells expected this to be some kind of Oscar calibre box office dynamo and that's not what this movie is at all. It's simple, sweet, and charming. I also thought it was pretty funny, though in a subtle-warm-chuckle kind of way not in a pee-my-pants kind of way.

Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and especially Maggie Gyllenhaal were all terrific. The best thing I can say about it is I went in in a crappy mood and I came out in a very good one. How many movies can offer that to a cynic like me?

comment #2

Dixon Steele says ...

I'm with you, CJ, I truly enjoyed STF. Yes, it's part of the same meta/mindfuck as the Charlie Kaufman films i.e. Eternal Sunshine, etc., but for me, it's vastly preferable. It has heart as well as smarts, and a great cast. Gyllenhaal has never been more appealing, the same thing for Hoffman. Ferrell underplays it for the most part and after Talledega Nights, it was welcome. And Emma Thompson is always great.

Ignore, Jeff, and check it out. I think you'll be glad you did.

comment #3

Mike Schaefer says ...

Went to a mid-afternoon showing of History Boys in SF on Fri, and there were (maybe) 25 people in the theater. But in the auditorium next-door, the 7-week-old The Queen was quite crowded.

Of course, we never actually got to see HB, because of a "projector malfunction" that caused the showing to be cancelled.

comment #4

Craig Kennedy says ...

Glad to see I'm not alone Dixon. Ferrell's understatement was a high point for me. Much of the subtle humor came from his expressions and responses to the characters and events around him.

Comparisons to Charlie Kaufman are fair, but they're dangerous. They travel a certain similarly twisted metaphysical geography, but they're just not the same in the end. I love Kaufman's work, but for me his films are more about the head where Stranger Than Fiction is aimed clearly at the heart. Kaufman's films have a heart, but they're wrapped in a cocoon of intellectual exercise. Treating Fiction in the same way I believe is one of the reasons its detractors aren't getting into it. They're missing the point.

I will admit Queen Latifah's character seemed a little tacked on and underdeveloped, but she was good in the role and it wasn't a detriment to the film at all.

I will also admit not everyone finds it as funny as I did and for me the humor went a long way in keeping me from trying to overanalyze the mechanics of the set up.

I'll add to Dixon's comment about checking it out by saying, if possible see it with someone you love.

As for Jeff...well I'll finish this with a paraphrase of Maggie Gyllenhaal from the film:

"Get bent Mr. Review Man!"

comment #5

Arran says ...

Uh, I think that Bobby figure is missing a few digits. It didn't do that badly.

comment #6

christian says ...

just when i think i might go see STF , i stumble across will ferrell doing one of his patented unfunny interviews about the film that consists of exactly the same lame glassy eyed witlessness that he brings to every interview. he could be in "hamlet" and he'd pull the same blank "everybody on the set hates me" yuks he's been doing since probably the first austin powers...his insincerity just bugs me.

comment #7

Craig Kennedy says ...

Christian, your Ferrell alergy just might keep you from likeing this movie, but I'm going to go out on a limb and recommend you have a look anyway. Keep your expectations modest, but also try and keep an open mind and I don't think anyone will get hurt.