04 Jan

Stranger Than Fiction

Lissa Coffey

Lissa Coffey

Lissa Coffey

Grade: B

This is not your typical Will Ferrell movie… but I think it’s his best one yet.  There’s no slapstick, or running around naked – here Will plays a gentle, ordinary guy who happens to hear a voice narrating his life.  This takes the IRS agent out of his mundane existence and gets him questioning every move his makes.  Emma Thompson, the only person who has won an Oscar for both screenwriting and acting, plays the novelist who writes about this character.  Dustin Hoffman has a nice turn as an off-beat literature professor who assists Will in his struggle to find the author in question.  Queen Latifah comes in mid-way as the author’s assistant, sent to help her get over her writer’s block. Maggie Gyllenhal plays Will’s unlikely love interest.

Hard to peg, is it a comedy or a cdrama?  It’s a little of both. Thought provoking, and also fun.  Nice for teens, younger kids probably won’t get it.

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