Stranger Than Fiction (2006 Film)

''Stranger than Fiction'' is a 2006 American fantasy comedy drama film directed by Marc Forster, produced by Lindsay Doran and written by Zach Helm. Partially inspired by ''Playtime'' by Jacques Tati, the film stars Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah and Emma Thompson. The main plot follows Harold Crick (Ferrell), an IRS agent who begins hearing a disembodied voice narrating his life as it happens – seemingly the text of a novel in which it is stated that he, the main character, will soon die – and he frantically seeks to somehow prevent his death.

''Stranger than Fiction'' was released by Columbia Pictures on November 10, 2006. On release, the film received positive reviews.

Plot

Harold Crick is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent living a solitary life of strictly scheduled routine in Chicago. On the day he is assigned to audit an intentionally tax-delinquent baker named Ana Pascal, Harold begins hearing the voice of a woman narrating his life. When his wristwatch stops working and he resets it using the time from a bystander, the voice narrates that this action will eventually result in Harold's death.

Harold consults a psychiatrist, who suggests he see a literary expert if he believes there is a narrator. He visits literature professor Jules Hilbert, who initially dismisses him. However, he recognizes omniscient narrative devices in what Harold claims the voice said, and is intrigued. He tries to help Harold identify the author, and determine if his story is a comedy or tragedy.

As Harold audits Ana, he develops an attraction to her, but when he obliviously rejects a gift of cookies because it could be considered a bribe, he takes it as a sign that he is in a tragedy. Jules tells Harold to spend the day at home doing nothing, and his living room is destroyed by a demolition crew that went to the wrong building. Jules takes such an improbable occurrence as proof that Harold is no longer in control of his own life, and advises he enjoy the time he has left, accepting whatever destiny the narrator has for him.

Harold takes time off from work, learns to play guitar, moves in with his co-worker Dave, and starts dating Ana. When she begins to fall in love with him, he reevaluates his story as a comedy. While meeting with Jules, Harold sees a television interview with author Karen Eiffel, and recognizes her voice as his narrator's. Jules, an admirer of Karen's work, says that all of her books are tragedies: the protagonist always dies. Karen has been struggling with writer's block on her next book because she cannot figure out how to kill Harold Crick, but has had a breakthrough and has begun writing again.

Harold telephones Karen and stuns her by accurately recounting her book to her. They meet in person, and she explains she has outlined the conclusion, but has not yet typed it in full. Her assistant, Penny, recommends that Harold read the outline, but he cannot bring himself to do so, and gives it to Jules. Jules deems it Karen's masterpiece to which Harold's death is integral, and he consoles Harold that death is inevitable, but this death will hold a deeper meaning.

Harold reads the outline and returns it to Karen, telling her the death she has written for him is beautiful and he accepts it. He takes care of some errands, and spends his last night with Ana. The next morning, Harold goes about his routine again, as Karen writes and narrates.

Karen reveals that when Harold reset his wristwatch, the bystander's time was three minutes fast, so he reached the bus stop early. A boy riding a bicycle falls in front of the bus; Harold runs into the street to save him, and is hit himself. However, Karen, traumatized by the idea that she unwittingly narrated real people to their deaths, cannot bring herself to finish the sentence declaring him dead. She meets Jules and offers him a revised ending.

Harold, heavily injured, wakes up in a hospital, and learns that shrapnel from his wristwatch — which was destroyed in the collision — blocked his ulnar artery and saved him from bleeding to death. Jules thinks this new ending weakens the book. Karen replies that the book was about a man who did not know he was going to die, but if Harold knew and accepted his fate, he is the kind of person who deserves to live. Karen's narration closes the film over a montage of Harold's newly invigorated life, ending on the ruined wristwatch that saved his life.

Cast

* Will Ferrell as Harold Crick, an IRS agent who starts hearing Eiffel's voice narrating his life
* Maggie Gyllenhaal as Ana Pascal, a baker who is being audited by Crick and begins to fall in love with him
* Dustin Hoffman as Professor Jules Hilbert, a literature expert advising Crick
* Queen Latifah as Penny Escher, an assistant who helps authors finish their works
* Emma Thompson as Karen Eiffel, an author known for killing the protagonists in her novels; she has been suffering from writer's block
* Tony Hale as Dave, Crick's friend from his work
* Tom Hulce as Dr. Cayly
* Linda Hunt as Dr. Mittag-Leffler, a psychologist whom Crick sees in hopes of solving his narration problem
* Kristin Chenoweth as Book Channel Host

Production

Writing

In 2001, writer Zach Helm was working with producer Clarence Helmus on a project they called "The Disassociate". Helm came to Doran with a new idea involving a man who finds himself accompanied by a narrator only he can hear. Helm decided that the narrator should state that the man is going to die, because, as Helm described, "There's something very poetic about the understanding of one's place in the universe, but it's far more dramatic when such understanding occurs only days before that life ends." Helm and Doran began referring to the new project as "The Narrator Project", and developed the story through a process of Helm's ideas and Doran's questions. One of Helm's main ideas involved engaging the movie's form as much as its content.SONY Pictures Entertainment (2006)
"Stranger than Fiction: Production Notes"
document archived at WebCite July 6, 2008 based on the version posted a
this original URL

Helm named each of the film's chief characters after a famous scientist or scientifically influential artist, including Crick, Pascal, Eiffel, Escher and David Hilbert. When the character of Dr. Hilbert tells Harold that he has devised a series of 23 questions to investigate the narrator, it is a playful reference to Hilbert's 23 problems. The film's title derives from a quote by Lord Byron: "Tis strange — but true; for truth is always strange, stranger than fiction."

According to Helm, one of the film's major themes is of interconnectivity. Helm stated, "Each of these characters ends up doing little things to save one another. There's an underlying theme that the things we take most for granted are often the ones that make life worth living and actually keep us alive."

Photography

The film was shot on location in Chicago, Illinois from April 25 to July 20, 2005. Dave's apartment, in which Harold takes residence after his own building is partially demolished, is part of the River City Condominiums. Hilbert's office was in a lecture hall at the University of Illinois Chicago. The CNA Center at 333 South Wabash Avenue, in the Loop, served as the location of the IRS office. The bakery that Ana Pascal runs is located in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, and is called La Catedral Cafe & Restaurant. The movie theater in the film is the Logan Theatre, located in the Logan Square neighborhood. Many downtown Chicago locations were used for scenes involving Karen Eiffel, Penny Escher and Harold Crick.

The film partly was inspired by ''Playtime'', Jacques Tati's visionary comedy about modern urban life, and the cinematography and production designs help create a claustrophobic sense of life in the city.

Music

The music for ''Stranger than Fiction'' includes original scores by the collaborative effort of Britt Daniel (singer-songwriter of Spoon) and Brian Reitzell (composer for '' Friday Night Lights'', '' The Bling Ring'' and ''Hannibal''), as well as a mix of indie rock songs from various artists, including Spoon. Reitzell is also the film's music supervisor. The soundtrack includes an original recording of " Whole Wide World", the song Harold plays for Ana, by Wreckless Eric.

Release

''Stranger than Fiction'' was given a wide release, in 2,264 screens, on November 10, 2006. It opened at No.4, its first of four consecutive weeks in the Top10 at the domestic box office.

Box office

''Stranger than Fiction'' grossed $40.7million domestically and $13.0million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $53.7million, against a budget of $30million.

Reception

Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, stating that the film was thought-provoking and moral, and that "such an uncommonly intelligent film does not often get made...which requires us to enter the lives of these specific quiet, sweet, worthy people". He also praised Ferrell's performance, saying, "Will Ferrell stars, in another role showing that like Steve Martin and Robin Williams he has dramatic gifts to equal his comedic talent."

''Rolling Stone'' rated the film 3 stars out of 4, stating that, although the premise of Ferrell's life being narrated is a set-up for farce, the film is "less self-reflexively clever and more intimate".

Todd McCarthy in '' Variety'' reviewed the film positively, praising its invention, and Ferrell's performance as nuanced; first playing a tight focused caricature of the company man, then exercising more humanity and wit without being "goofy".McCarthy, T
Stranger Than Fiction
''Variety'', September 12, 2006; retrieved February 18, 2011.

Accolades

See also

* Metafiction
* The Stanley Parable, a 2013 video game with similar themes.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stranger Than Fiction
2006 films
2000s fantasy comedy-drama films
American fantasy comedy-drama films
Films about writers
Films shot in Chicago
American self-reflexive films
Columbia Pictures films
Mandate Pictures films
Films directed by Marc Forster
Films scored by Brian Reitzell
Films set in Chicago
Magic realism films
Metafictional works
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
English-language fantasy comedy-drama films
English-language fantasy comedy films
English-language fantasy drama films