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Reviews Counted:165
Fresh:119
Rotten:46
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: A fun, whimsical tale about about an office drone trying to save his life from his narrator. The cast obviously is having a blast with the script, but Stranger Than Fiction's tidy lessons make this metaphysical movie feel like Charlie Kaufman-lite.
Theatrical Release:01-12-2006
Synopsis: One morning, a seemingly average and generally solitary IRS agent named Harold Crick begins to hear a female voice narrating his every action, thought and feeling in alarmingly precise detail.... [More]
Starring: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman
Director: Marc Forster
If Stranger Than Fiction has a central flaw, it's overly sentimental. Although the story would work better as a tragedy, Forster and Helm can't resist tacking on a mushy love story, involving Crick and combative tax cheat Ana Pascal.
It's feel-good for real, uplifting in a meaningful way, and I loved it.
A decent premise caves under scrutiny, exposing (Fiction) as one long setup that lacks a punch line.
Sure, [Crick's] more a caricature than a fully fleshed out person, but he reacts to his increasingly unbelievable situation with unexpected...believability.
Not the most satisfying of films, and it may not be as profound as it wants to be, but there are moments here that make it well worth a look.
Stranger Than Fiction promises a heady experience, but it ultimately heads for the heart instead.
In a movie full of surprises, the biggest may be Ferrell's perfectly deadpan performance.
Indulge the movie's excesses, and it rewards the viewer's intelligence with humor mingled with insight, warmth and painless lessons in literary theory.
Screenwriter Zach Helm and director Marc Forster take a great, out-there idea and make it into something that feels true and magical.
For much of the film, Ferrell must suppress his showman instincts to pull off the schlub act. That's good for the film, but it's bad for fans who expect him to scream obscenities and run down the street naked.
Stranger Than Fiction is a meditation on life, art and romance, and on the kinds of responsibility we have. Such an uncommonly intelligent film does not often get made.
Top CriticForster has a strong eye for detail and a keen visual sense.
Never self-consciously wacky or cloyingly sentimental, Stranger Than Fiction is instead a breezy, sweet comedy.
Fiction is one large false start, unable to claw out of the pit of its own toxic self-awareness.
...Just another run of the mill, disappointingly mediocre comedy.
A surprising, pathos-generating performance by Ferrell ... For the first time in a long time I really hoped a movie's main character wouldn't die.
As a philosophical study, it's shaky beyond belief, but as a humorous trifle, it admirably makes up the difference.
The link between comedy and tragedy is closer than Ferrell believes but the line isn't as clever as it should be and not nearly as profound as it believes it is.
Will Ferrell is great with a restrained, earnest performance as a guy who isn't the life of the party, isn't bombastic and loud, but is just a shy guy trying to make it through life without getting hurt.
...the film also closes on a less than inspired note, but the filmmakers fail to take advantage of the literary irony.
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