When ""Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"" was in theaters, Kate Winslet compared Charlie Kaufman to Shakespeare and repeatedly referred to him as the greatest writer of our generation. After only a handful of films, not only has Kaufman reinvented the meta-movie; with ""Being John Malkovich,"" ""Adaptation"" and ""Eternal Sunshine"" (ignore ""Human Nature""), he's been responsible for three of the weirdest, and best, movies ever made. If you doubt his enormous talent in the slightest, watch what happens when others try and mimic his inimitable style. First we had ""Eternal Sunshine"" director Michel Gondry's ""The Science of Sleep,"" which was equal parts eccentric and irritating, and now we've got Marc Forster's ""Stranger Than Fiction,"" a somewhat engaging existential romp that, despite a wonderful central performance from Will Ferrell, never quite manages to come together.
""Stranger Than Fiction"" is the story of Harold Crick (Ferrell), a lonely, obsessive-compulsive IRS agent who begins hearing a voice that narrates his life. That voice belongs to reclusive author Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), and it proves to be startlingly accurate, right down to the number of times Harold brushes each of his teeth. At first, it merely annoys him, but after Kay's voice mentions his imminent death, Harold goes about investigating the origins behind his meta-dilemma.
Along the way, Harold enlists the help of a literature professor (the always-excellent Dustin Hoffman) who asks him to categorize his life as a comedy or a tragedy. Meanwhile, Kay deliberates on how to kill Harold off, much to the dismay of a pushy publisher's assistant (the always-awful Queen Latifah), and Harold finds himself falling in love with Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a quirky bakery owner he continually crosses paths with. This all leads to a drawn-out, disappointing finale that fails to deliver on writer Zach Helm's numerous detours and tantalizing promises, instead giving us a crowd-pleasing ending that will please few. In a scene near the end, Kay asks Hoffman what he thinks of her ending, and he shrugs and replies, ""It's OK."" Exactly.
Gyllenhaal is damn near incapable of giving a bad performance, and she is every bit as luminous and charming here as she's been in the past. When she's onscreen, she elevates ""Stranger Than Fiction"" and makes Ferrell look even better; their authentically awkward, endearing encounters give the film a genuine sweetness and lovability it otherwise lacks. Ferrell keeps us interested, for the most part, with another outstanding performance that demonstrates his admirable range. He's especially interesting in romantic parts because he's not a chiseled pretty-boy, but rather a realistic, sympathetic human being complete with a flabby ass and a soul. Aside from Ferrell and Gyllenhaal, Hoffman and Thompson are also superb.
For director Forster, ""Stranger Than Fiction"" is a step forward after the terrible one-two punch of the syrupy ""Finding Neverland"" and the nonsensical ""Stay."" He's got a unique cinematic eye, and he can stage a sudden car crash and an emotionally devastating sex scene (""Monster's Ball"") with panache, but now he should pick a project with a script that matches the brilliance of his dependably eclectic casts. Similarly, Helm is an intriguing new writer, but it's apparent that he's much better at penning straightforward, touching romantic scenes than Kaufman-esque bouts of existential comedy. We'll see if he improves with his directorial debut, the Natalie Portman/Dustin Hoffman fantasy ""Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.""
If you're curious about this, by all means go see it, at least for the poignant love story. But this existential terrain has been traversed better multiple times—""Adaptation"" and David O. Russell's flawed-but-hilarious ""I Heart Huckabee's"" immediately come to mind—and the experience is pleasant but ultimately disappointing. If Kaufman had his way with this great concept, we would have walked out of the theater stunned and galvanized, not shrugging and saying ""meh."" You can do a hell of a lot worse than ""Stranger Than Fiction,"" but Kaufman could've done it a hell of a lot better.
