Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

An I.R.S. auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life, from his work, to his love-interest, to his death.

Director:

Marc Forster

Writer:

Zach Helm

Stars:

Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Ferrell	...	Harold Crick
William Dick	...	IRS Co-Worker #1
Guy Massey	...	IRS Co-Worker #2
Martha Espinoza	...	IRS Co-Worker #3
T.J. Jagodowski	...	IRS Co-Worker #4
Peter Grosz	...	IRS Co-Worker #5
Ricky Adams	...	Young Boy
Christian Stolte	...	Young Boy's Father
Denise Hughes	...	Kronecker Bus Driver
Peggy Roeder	...	Polish Woman
Tonray Ho	...	IRS Co-Worker #6
Tony Hale	...	Dave
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Ana Pascal
Danny Rhodes	...	Bakery Employee #1
Helen Young	...	Bakery Customer #1

Storyline

Everybody knows that your life is a story. But what if a story was your life? Harold Crick is your average IRS agent: monotonous, boring, and repetitive. But one day this all changes when Harold begins to hear an author inside his head narrating his life. The narrator it is extraordinarily accurate, and Harold recognizes the voice as an esteemed author he saw on TV. But when the narration reveals that he is going to die, Harold must find the author of the story, and ultimately his life, to convince her to change the ending of the story before it is too late.

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Plot Keywords:

author | fate | professor | novelist | writer | 

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Taglines:

Truth is stranger than fiction.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some disturbing images, sexuality, brief language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [Turkey] Sony [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Killing Harold Crick

Filming Locations:

John Hancock Center Condominium Owner's Entrance - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,411,093, 12 November 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$40,137,776, 17 December 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Mandate Pictures, Three Strange Angels

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While filming, Will Ferrell wore an earpiece that fed him Emma Thompson's narrative lines, in order to assist the other cast members in reacting more naturally to Ferrell's seemingly non sequitur lines.

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Goofs

Near the beginning, Ms. Eifel dictates "When asked by a co-worker for the product of 67 and 453, Harold drew a blank. He quickly answered 30,351 despite the answer really being 31,305." The product of 67 and 453 actually is 30,351. This was meant to get viewers to question who was dictating Harold's life, the narrator or Harold himself. It wouldn't be a coincidence that the "incorrect" number given by Harold would in fact be the correct answer.

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Quotes

Ana Pascal: Mr. Crick, it was a really awful day. I know, I made sure of it. So pick up the cookie, dip it in the milk, and eat it.

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, the names of the characters and the actors who played them were displayed against stylized images of the places where the characters worked.

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Connections

Features Winged Migration (2001)

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Soundtracks

Rave
Written and Performed by Marc Ferrari and Paul Taylor
Courtesy of Mastersource / Marc Ferrari

User Reviews

Great script

I saw this film at the Chicago Film Festival opening last night. I went not knowing a thing about it in advance, and was pleasantly surprised. I'd suggest that people DON'T read specifics about this film before seeing it.

The story/script is fantastic - I'd be surprised if it didn't get nominated for the big original screenplay awards. It's interesting, funny, poignant, and quite charming, actually.

The casting in general is wonderful... As someone else said, Hoffman is perfectly understated... I'd never seen Maggie Gyllenhaal before, but I'm a fan after seeing this one. And Emma Thompson could see a best supporting actress nod for this film.

Sadly, I thought the film's weakest point was the casting of Will Ferrell in the lead. He's not bad by any means, but he just doesn't work at the same level as the rest of the cast. Kudos to him for what he DOES accomplish in this film, but it would've had plenty of starpower without him, and the role could've been used to showcase someone else's talent.

All in all, thumbs up.

Just my two cents.