review: STRANGER THAN FICTION

Sony Pictures  //  Buy from Amazon.com 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. When Will Ferrell was a cast member on SNL, I loved him - each week I howled and squealed in delight as he hammed it up as only he could in each one of his skits. Unfortunately, his transition to big screen star hasn't been nearly as funny for me - I liked him in "Old School," but really, he was a co-star in that one, and his other starring roles haven't really done a whole lot to entertain me (am I the only person in the entire world who was let down by "Elf?"). Thankfully, Ferrell is given a chance to not only play it down quite a bit in this film, but also stretch his acting wings and become a character that you love. This really is an ensemble movie, focusing on Ferrell, granted, but it's the collection of co-stars such as Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal that really round out this warm-hearted gem of a dramatic comedy and make it so much more than just another Will Ferrell flick. Each brings their own special touch to the production, and when you combine all that they have to offer with the surprisingly-well done special effects (I know what you're thinking - "Special effects? What the hell?" - but trust me, you'll dig 'em when you see 'em!) and you get a very enjoyable & entertaining flick. I loved it, and I'm not afraid to admit that I'm very surprised to be able to say so. Video The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is very easy on the eyes, with good coloring, nice detail and overall a very sharp picture. Audio The included Dolby 5.1 surround mix is perfect - not a very dynamic soundtrack in this film, but you can't complain when the dialogue is easy to hear and the background music is well-mixed. Nice job. Extras "Actors in Search of a Story" featurette "Building the Team" featurette "On Location in Chicago" featurette "Words on a Page" featurette "Picture a Number: The Evolution of a GUI" featurette On the Set" montage extended & deleted scenes trailers & soundtrack spot Closing Thoughts Clever, entertaining flick + lots of fluffy (yet still interesting) extras = very enjoyable film that is surprisingly more than just another Will Ferrell comedy