2
(nothing direct)
5
(sexuality, brief nudity, strong language)
4
(see it or skip it)
"Stranger Than Fiction" was recommended to me as a really good movie. Being a comedy about a writer I thought I might enjoy it. I guess I’m just too set in my ways, though, because all I saw was a romantic comedy. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed out loud more than once, but between laughs I was frequently bored. Maybe I would have liked it more if they were all aliens or something.
The premise is interesting: a man finds himself the main character in a novelist’s book in progress. As he tries to figure out why he hears someone narrating his life he must also find out how this is going to affect him. Is he in a comedy or a tragedy? When the narrator announces his impending death that question appears to be answered. While cultivating a love interest (I did say this was a romantic comedy right?) Harold must either stop the author from killing him or come to grips with his passing. Oh yeah, the romance part, Harold (an unremarkable IRS agent) finds himself auditing an alluring girl he wants to make his own.
One fun thing about this movie is that while dull, Harold is OCD. Besides opening the door for some fun comedy, the filmmakers display his nature in a very creative way – a graphical interface (like a GUI). It puts the viewer in Harold’s mind as he counts steps, measures soap levels, and things like that. It’s like laying a diagram over a picture like what you might see in an encyclopedia (except animated). It’s a unique idea and a lot of fun to see in action. I feel like we don't see this utilized nearly enough.
I mentioned that Harold, with whom we spend the majority of the movie, is dull. That’s pretty brave to make the main character so uninteresting, and even more so to put a known comedian in the role. But a dull main character is not the movie’s issue. Yes, there are some times when the story drags needing more comedy than this type of character provides, but for the most part Harold is surrounded by enough comedy and plot to keep him from being boring.
I am not a completely unromantic guy. I have enjoyed the romantic elements in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and such, and I get hung up on the relationships in Smallville (I’m so ready for Clark to ditch Lana and start falling for Lois). I enjoy Shakespearean romances and was all caught up in Derfel’s longing for a particular woman in Bernard Cornwell’s retelling of the King Arthur legend (an absolutely fantastic series if you haven’t read it). I could name numerous other examples from pop entertainment and literature, but the point is that I don’t just automatically discount something because it has romantic elements. (I felt the need to qualify this since I previously mentioned my general dislike of romantic comedies.)
With that established, I do not think highly of the romantic elements in Stranger Than Fiction. The relationship itself is an integral part of the story, but the development of it feels forced and unnatural to me. The passage of time plays a big part in this. Harold falls for her far too quickly and then wins her over far too easily. They start doing the bed sheet tango before they even start dating and boom, they have the perfect blissful relationship. Personally I think the better approach would have been for Harold to spend the majority of the movie trying to win her over but not making much progress until closer to the end as she finally and gradually started to come around. Starting the story with them already working towards a relationship might have helped, too. At the very least keeping the focus on an emotional connection rather than immediate sexual gratification would have helped.
Acting is not bad but nothing impressive. I don’t like Emma Thompson all that much even though I have enjoyed her in the past. Will Farrell is pretty good, but for most of the movie he’s monotone. I mean that’s what the character is supposed to be. Dustin Hoffman tries too hard to be the eccentric literary guru. I feel like he’s supposed to by the wise wizard kind of guy, but I see him as more pretentious. Queen Laifah gives one of the better performances of the movie. Maggie Gyllenhaal is fine, but she doesn’t have enough to do. She has to be pretty and edgy and that’s about it.
What’s up with their taste in guitars? OK, I’ll leave that one alone.
One thing that redeems this movie is a very good bout with mortality towards the end. If the whole movie had been on this level I might have liked it a lot more. It becomes difficult and thought provoking but only for a short time.
Morality
There is a fair amount of strong language throughout. It's typically mild but does drop an F bomb and includes some crude comments about female anatomy.
Will and Maggie get sensual and are shown in bed a few times. There is no graphic sex or sexual nudity, but it's obvious that they are doing more than cuddling when they get together. There is a shower scene with some male butts in view. There is also some sexual dialogue including Maggie making blunt references to parts of her anatomy.
There is no violence as far as people fighting, but people do get hurt with a little blood spilled.
Spirituality
The one aspect of the movie that I think is really good comes towards the end. There are going to be some spoilers here so be forewarned.
Harold has learned that he is going to die, but he also finds out that by doing so he saves the life of a young boy. His dilemma is in accepting his fate or trying to change the story so that he lives. This would not be an easy struggle for most people. In the end Harold decides that he will lay down his life for the benefit of a complete stranger. John 15:13 anyone? This is the one aspect of the story that might actually entice me to recommend it. This dilemma is only a small part of the story, though.
Final Thoughts
I’ve seen worse romantic comedies. This one did make me laugh at times and had some redeeming qualities in the struggles with mortality. The GUI graphics are unusual and creative. However, some of the story elements, characters, and performances leave a lot to be desired.
Buying Guide
"Stranger Than Fiction" offers a mostly straight-forward array of buying options.
There are 2 Blus: a standard release and a Special Edition. The DVD is sometimes labeled as a “widescreen edition” and sometimes not, but there is only 1 DVD release.
The standard Blu offers 1.85 widescreen at 1080p and a couple of surround sound options including 5.1 LPCM and 5.1 Dolby. Reviews speak highly of the presentation. The extras appear to be the same as the DVD offerings and include features on the actors, crew, writing, locations, set, and GUI, along with deleted scenes and trailers.
The Special Edition Blu offers 1.85 widescreen with 5.1 Dolby HD surround sound. The video looks like it's exactly the same as the previous Blu, but the audio gets a different encoding although reviews suggest that it sounds pretty much the same. The extras include everything from the previous Blu (and the DVD) plus 2 new commentaries and a few additional deleted scenes.
Final Recommendation:
The Special Edition Blu is your best bet for quality and the most complete set of bonus features. If you can get a better deal on the older Blu you're still getting good quality and most of the extras. If you're not into Blus, the DVD is still a decent offering with solid quality and most of the extras that come with the Blus.
The Sony DVD is a single disc.
Video
1.85 Widescreen:
The image is a bit grainy but looks pretty good aside from some ghosting that happens with some of the faster moving objects on screen.
Audio
5.1 Dolby:
The audio is clean and clear but without much on the low end. The surround sound immersion is nothing to get excited about.
Packaging
The case is standard plastic.
The interface features some eye-catching animation with music and sound effects.
The amount of materials that play before the movie is extremely annoying. Leading into the interface are 3 previews and some other stuff. Then getting from the interface to the movie brings up a rating screen, a few logos, and a number of warnings and disclaimers. Who cares if the commentary does not reflect the views of your dog or the cashier who rang up my purchase? Wait, there ISN’T a commentary! So now we’re going to start getting disclaimers to disavow association with features that don’t actually exist? Thanks, DVD authors, for making sure I know the views in your imagination don’t reflect your actual views.
Extras