It’s funny how as a DVD reviewer, you begin to see how the theme of one film relates to the next in a way that perhaps most people don’t get to experience.  Case in point, I just wrote a review of the movie Babel, a film that examines how the actions of one individual affect completely unrelated individuals around the globe.  The very next film I received to review was Stranger Than Fiction, a movie about how the actions of one single person have a direct and drastic effect on a complete stranger. 

Both movies tread similar ground thematically in that regard but they are handled in such incredibly different ways that it’s hard at first to find that similarity.  I think the only reason I saw it was that I watched both movies within such a short time span.  Here’s the rub though, Babel was nominated for seven Academy Awards and by the time you read this review will most likely have won in at least one major category.  Stranger Than Fiction received no nominations and that’s a goddamned shame because I actually enjoyed watching Stranger Than Fiction more than I did Babel.

The premise is very simple.  Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) wakes up one day and suddenly hears a voice in his head.  It is narrating his life.  It’s a voice he’s never heard before.  It’s not his mother or father or sibling.  It’s a British woman’s voice (belonging to Emma Thompson) and she seems to know absolutely everything about him.  She knows his obsessions, she knows his routines and she even knows how many times he fastidiously brushes each tooth in the morning.  The thing is, she’s speaking in the third person and it soon becomes apparent that she is writing his life out for him and has every intention of killing him off very soon.

Harold must figure out where the voice is coming from and find a way to convince whomever it is to let him continue living. 

This premise is great in and of itself, but there are so many places it could go wrong.  That’s why I think writer Zach Helm deserved at least a nomination in the Original Screenplay category.  The script is absolutely perfect.  I’m not kidding here.  It’s amazing.  Every character has depth.  Every moment of the script is there to move along the next in a way where nothing is wasted.  It is darkly comic and incredibly tragic.  I’ve heard some grumbling that the ending isn’t dark enough, but I think it works perfectly as it further evolves Thompson’s character.  In short, this script should have been a contender.

Still, without direction and proper casting a script is just words on paper.  Luckily this film really does have both in spades.  Ferrell is so good in this he shocked me.  His portrayal of Crick, a man who once took life for granted and now begins to climb out of his shell rivals that of Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.  He’s a character that you empathize with completely and watching him come to grips with what’s happening to him will genuinely move you.

The supporting cast is equally strong.  Maggie Gyllenhaal shines as Ana Pascal, a baker Crick is auditing and falling in love with.  Emma Thompson’s portrayal of Karen Eiffel, the writer who has been working on the novel of Crick’s life for ten years is comic and frustratingly painful in itself.  Dustin Hoffman plays a professor of literary fiction who helps Crick decipher the clues to finding the identity of his narrator and the nature of the story.  Even Queen Latifah is fun to watch in her performance as Eiffel’s assistant, sent to make sure the book finally finishes on schedule.  None of the comedy is slapstick.  All of it is dark and like Helm discusses in the featurette, death practically permeates every scene and yet it’s an extremely enjoyable film.

This is possible due to the sure direction of Marc Forster.  He brings out some incredible performances, paces the film very well and along with Director of Photography Roberto Schaefer creates a world that lets the viewer actually believe this is all possible.  In the featurette on Forster and his crew one fact that comes out is that three months before preproduction began, he and Schaefer broke down every scene and planned every shot.  The resulting relaxed atmosphere allowed everyone to throw themselves into their roles and the outcome is fantastic.

This is truly one of the strongest films of 2006.  I highly recommend you see it.

Extras
There are quite a few good extras on this disc.  Unfortunately the two things missing are a commentary track and the theatrical trailer.  What you do get though are some great featurettes.  There are four here you need to see and then two that in my opinion are throwaways.

The first two (Actors In Search Of A Story and Building The Team) focus on the cast and the crew.  The first is basically a lovefest but is still lively and fun.  The second looks at Forster’s team and his method of working and is well worth watching.  Also, Words On A Page focuses on the writing and while it’s not as revealing as one may hope, it’s still pretty fun to watch.   Especially interesting is Helm’s description of how the idea formed over time.  For people interested in the kickass graphics that help portray Crick’s worldview, Picture A Number: The Evolution Of A G.U.I. is also entertaining.

Stay away from On Location In Chicago (basically an advertisement for the city as a great shooting location) and On The Set (a montage of footage set to techno music).

There are two Deleted Scenes included but they aren’t really scenes from the movie.  Both are “interviews” staged for a fake TV channel presented in the movie.  They are actually kind of fun to watch though as they are completely improvised and played for the kind of laughs you get from watching an uncomfortable comedy like The Office.

Finally you get some trailers for other movies coming soon to DVD.  Sadly, Stranger Than Fiction’s trailer is not included.

The Bottom Line
Stranger Than Fiction is one of my favorite movies from 2006.  I think that almost anyone will enjoy it whether they are a fan of comedy, drama or tragedy. I’d drive you to the video store myself if I could.  Please check out this great film.