Stranger than Fiction (2006)
As the adage goes, Fact is supposed to be stranger than fiction. This is owing to the reason that fiction is supposed to stick to possibilities but truth isn’t!
Today, I decided to write about this tragi-comedy from 2006 which I consider to be one of the finest black comedies to have been produced
Marc Forster wields the directorial baton for this story about an IRS worker who begins hearing a disembodied voice narrating his life as it happens – seemingly the text of a novel in which it is stated that he will soon die – and he frantically seeks to somehow prevent that ending
Will Ferrell essays the title role of the IRS officer who is thrust into a situation of panic when this voice delivers the impending news of his own death
In a situation like this, Ferrell is left seeking answers and how he should go about preventing his death.
This premise is a note worthy reminder to us as human beings, which serves to remind us that we ought to be woken out of our slumber of going through the motions of our every day life and starting to living life the way it ought to be LIVED, by doing what REALLY makes us HAPPY!
The transformation that Ferrell’s character goes through is really heart warming to witness and there are several sequences through out the movie that will put a BIG WIDE FUCKING GRIN on our FACES
Stranger than Fiction does what many other movies fail to do: It respects our intelligence, asks us the right questions, and ensures we keep smiling through the entire length of this movie while falling in love with the characters, which is to say, each and every one of them!
The narrative technique used on this tale is really smart and fuses the 2 stories running parallel to each other thereby answering our questions of the voice narrating this story(Spoiler Free, I promise!)
The Direction by Forster is absolutely restrained, he controls the narrative with aplomb and empowers his actors to deliver their characters with finesse
The actors beginning with Ferrell, Gyllenhaal, Hoffman, Latifah and lastly, Thompson all are in TOP FORM and give performances ranging right from Sweet to Bizarre to Eccentric to Quirky to Mad Cap to Restrained and not Necessarily in that order
Each actor delivers upon their characters and give us heartfelt renditions giving us an insight into what the CHARACTER feels.
The CLIMAX of this movie is an ABSOLUTELY FITTING end to a Note Worthy Concept and even though we are expecting this story to end on a predictable note it some what ends unpredictably leaving us with a mixed after thought.
It’s almost like we are awaiting our sense of fulfillment of wanting to see the central character DEAD and when that doesn’t happen, a SENSE of disappointment sets IN!
There in lies the beauty of the DIRECTION! It leads us into exactly expecting what the premise set us UP for!
Please take time out to watch this GEM of a MOVIE which I believe gives us a good lesson in Living Life without Expectations and following what OUR heart tells us to DO
Strange is usually VERY VERY beautiful as this movie proves!