Ferrell, Hoffman deliver in "Stranger than Fiction"

I discovered two things during "Stranger than Fiction" - Will Ferrell can do drama, and literary theory can be successfully discussed in a Hollywood film.

Warm, sentimental, and absolutely captivating, "Stranger than Fiction" manages both comedy and drama without becoming hokey or (too) predictable. Harold Crick (Ferrell) is a slightly obsessive-compulsive but an otherwise terribly mundane IRS auditor. However, Harold's routine is suddenly and completely disturbed one Wednesday as he begins to hear a woman's voice narrate his life "accurately, and with a better vocabulary." That voice belongs to Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), an eccentric and somewhat disorganized author suffering from both writer's block and the new, unwanted, assistant, Penny (Queen Latifah) her publisher sent to her office to assure that Kay's new book is completed.

Unfortunately for Harold, Harold has never heard of Kay and she believes Harold exists only in her story. Even worse for Harold, Eiffel intends to kill the character she's writing about. In search of answers, Harold sees a therapist (Linda Hunt) who suggests he may be schizophrenic but eventually refers him to a literary expert. It is only after Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) finds out about a key phrase in the narration that he takes Harold seriously, at which point he recommends Harold figure out whether he is in a comedy or a tragedy in order to determine how likely he is to actually be killed. This is further complicated, of course, by an eccentric baker named Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who Harold is currently auditing.

The acting in this film is fantastic. Ferrell and Gyllenhaal have remarkable chemistry, Hoffman shines in an unlikely role and Thompson plays Eiffel as such as brilliant train wreck that we often worry about her safety as much as Harold's. "Stranger than Fiction" manages to avoid too much of the annoying overt "life is short, live it to the fullest" message by contemplating the situations in which Harold finds himself as well taking an interesting approach to the "predestined fate versus free-will" argument.

This film is rated PG-13 for some disturbing images, sexuality, brief language and nudity, but its contemplative nature will have appeal little to the younger crowd anyway. Director Marc Forster's "Stranger than Fiction" is unexpectedly thoughtful and powerful, leaving audiences with something to talk about for hours over coffee or drinks, unlike most films this holiday season.

Originally published in The Chronicle in November 2006 as Jade Lee Culberson