Harold Crick (Ferrell) is an IRS auditor that has a very set routine and an almost OCD-like set of behaviors (like counting the number of steps in a staircase, or the number of times he brushes his teeth). He goes about his daily, lonely business, until he starts to hear his own personal narrator. At first, he thinks he is going crazy, and the therapist he talks to tends to agree. But when he approaches English Literature Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), the two start to try and figure out exactly what kind of story he is in and who the writer might be.
Meanwhile, Crick has started auditing the woman who owns a local bakery. Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal) it seems is adamant about paying only the portion of her taxes that goes towards the causes she believes in (as opposed to war and politicians and whatnot). The two characters are very opposite. Where Crick is the epitome of order, Pascal is a mess and enjoys spontaneity. Through frequent encounters, it appears the two might actually hit it off, though. Of course, a lot of this is brought on by Crick's willingness to break out of his shell in an attempt to prove his narrator wrong. The introduction of this new character (Pascal) intrigues Hilbert and narrows Crick's story down into two categories, comedy or tragedy.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, famous writer Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) continues her writer's block on exactly how to kill her latest character, Harold Crick. Her publishing company has sent her a new assistant in Penny Escher (Queen Latifah), who vows to do whatever it takes to make Eiffel finish on time and finally kill this character.
Stranger Than Fiction does a good job of making pointed comments about both literary theory and the standard structure of stories, but that kind of discussion would be much more suitable for a more lengthy writing than a movie review. What I do have to say is that this movie will make you think, and it definitely breaks away from the norm.
While this Blu-ray version has very few added special features (a couple more deleted scenes), it's still good to watch in high definition. I especially enjoyed the much crisper nature of Harold's GUI (the lines and numbers that swim around his head as he goes about his business).
Stranger Than Fiction is a good movie worth watching a couple of times. Ferrell does a good job breaking out of his comedic corner and shows that he can show some real emotion when the need arises. This is definitely a movie worth seeing.
