Stranger Than Fiction DVD Review

Dec 27, 2006

Will Ferrell takes a step out of his comedic comfort zone to play a dull, lonely IRS agent in his new flick, Stranger Than Fiction. Find out if you'll be won over by Will's softer side with this review!

Stranger Than Fiction - Voices in Your Head

While diligently brushing his teeth one Wednesday morning, Harold Crick starts to hear a voice in his head. This is no ordinary voice. It's not his subconscious telling him he's hungry or a schizophrenic voice telling him he's someone other than himself. It's a narrator's voice, saying word for word what Harold is doing. Every boring detail. At first he thinks he's just going a bit crazy, but when the narrator suddenly speaks these cryptic words, "Little did he know that his own tragic death was imminent", Harold knows he has to find this invisible narrator and take back his life.

Stranger Than Fiction - If You Were to Die Tomorrow

Even after enlisting the help of a literary professor (Dustin Hoffman), Harold Crick's time is running out to solve his mystery so he figures he should just start living his life. He takes time off work and buys himself a guitar, he actively pursues a cute, young baker he had been auditing and he stops obsessively counting everything he does. Harold Crick actually starts enjoying himself - but even after he figures out who the voice in his head is, his fate seems sealed.

Stranger Than Fiction - Not Quite That Strange

To see Will play something other than a crazy maniac is quite refreshing, but the story doesn't always live up to Will's (and the supporting cast's) performance. The movie is based on a belief in fate and destiny, but the ending of the movie kind of takes away from that. Instead of playing things out in a dramatic way, Stranger Than Fiction falls back on a Hollywood ending that makes it a less than perfect flick.

Stranger Than Fiction - DVD Features

The extras on the Stranger Than Fiction DVD are a bit dry and probably aren't going to keep your interest for very long. Many of the features involve interviews with the director, producer and writer of the flick, so unless you're a real film buff, you'll probably want to skip the features and just watch the movie. There is a good montage of funny clips from the set, but that's the only thing worth checking out.

Stranger Than Fiction - Bottom Line

Stranger Than Fiction is not your typical Will Ferrell movie. At no time does he go streaking, race cars or coach soccer. But that doesn't make it a bad movie. For the most part, Stranger Than Fiction is fresh, funny and magical but it does loose a bit of its charm at the very end. Not very many people like sad endings, but for this movie they should have stayed true to the story instead of trying to tie it up in a neat, happy bow.