No Laughing Matter

Director Marc Forster of Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland fame, does a fantastic job fashioning an original and thought-provoking film with heart and poignance.

Besides being inventive and witty, Stranger Than Fiction is a tribute to the power of literature. But art is not its only domain. It also delves into the world of ultimate certainties: death and taxes.

Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS employee who has no personal or social life to speak of. Every morning he brushes his teeth the same amount of times, walks the same number of steps to the bus stop, and maintains the same routine for the rest of the day. One morning, however, something strange occurs. A female voice with a British accent starts narrating Harold's life and, strangely, Harold can hear her although nobody else can. Turns out that reclusive author Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) "created" Harold as a character in one of her novels. Crick knows that he's not crazy, despite insistence from his therapist (Linda Hunt) who reluctantly suggests he talk to a literature professor named Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) who can track down the "author."

Those looking for a rowdy Ferrell comedy should take note: The humor in this surrealistic tale is whimsical rather than raucous. Ferrell is appealingly understated. Funny as he was in Anchorman or Talladega Nights, little did we know he'd have the range to play a man like Harold Crick, leading a life of quiet desperation (think Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love).

If you liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Little Miss Sunshine or indie films of the such. I can all but promise that you'll like this one too.