Writer's block can be a bitch.
With it comes bloodshot eyes, broken keyboards and angry editors; but in Harold Crick's case, it's the only thing keeping him alive.
Crick (Will Ferrell) is a plain man in every respect. He lives his life by his wristwatch: taking timed lunch and coffee breaks during his auditing job for the Internal Revenue Service, going to bed at precisely the same time every night and waking up just as promptly in the morning.
In fact, the only remarkable thing about him is that a woman, Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), happens to be narrating his life.
At first, hearing this voice only irritates Crick and makes him question his sanity, but when she reveals that the simple action of resetting his wristwatch will lead to his "imminent death," he freaks out.
With a new passion for life and a fixation with Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), the baker he happens to be auditing, Crick becomes intent on solving the mystery before the story and his life end.
Thus, the race is on as Crick and his literary adviser (Dustin Hoffman) try to find out who is directing his life, while Eiffel and her assistant (Queen Latifah) work to figure out just how she's going to kill her main character.
Those looking for another slew of cheap gags and mildly offensive laughs in the style of "Talladega Nights;" will be disappointed because this really is not the same kind of movie. This is not what we have come to expect from Ferrell.
He's not continuously yelling and pushing a quirky one-note character through two hours of mindless entertainment.
The film's pace is leisurely at best, with an obvious nod to how one reads a novel.
And while there are a few moments that ring distinctively familiar to Ferrell's previous personas - such as when he explains his feelings to Pascal in such blunt terms as, "I want you" - Ferrell has gone in a new direction as a more believable, sympathetic character trapped in a world of dark, ironic humor.
But does that make for a good comedy? Yes and no.
Yes, if you're willing to give "Stranger Than Fiction" your complete attention and allow some emotional attachment to the well-developed characters; no, if you've just finished watching "Borat" and movie-hopped over to this flick because you're cheap.
Overall, "Fiction" is a solid experience that won't buckle you over laughing, but sound performances by Thompson and especially the straight-faced Hoffman make for a rather intriguing ride that is less like "Anchorman" and more like "Adaptation."
'Stranger Than Fiction'
♆♆♆♆♆
Director: Marc Forster.
Cast: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah
Rating: PG-13 for some disturbing images, sexuality, brief language and nudity.
Reach the reporter at: michael.chichester@asu.edu.
