Stranger Than Fiction is a story within a film about a man named Harold Crick (Will Ferrell). Crick himself has a simple life, as well a bare, slightly beige apartment. He works for the IRS, can calculate any equation in his head, and has a single friend named Dave (Tony Hale), who happens to be a fellow coworker. One morning while brushing his teeth, Harold finds that there is a narrator for his life. This narrator knows what sound the IRS files brushing together reminds Harold of, as well as his many aspirations despite his actions paired with his exterior. The narrator is actually the author named Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), who is writing a fictional tale of Harold's life... except there is nothing but nonfiction in her story. Harold soon finds out from Karen herself what her intentions are for his life, which causes him to search for her to determine how they can meet- and hopefully change his doomed fate.

Although Harold is played by one of the funniest mainstream actors working today, Stranger Than Fiction is not truly a comedy. It's more of a dramatic examination of a simple man, paired with some slightly unbelievable yet heartfelt romance. Harold encounters Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who he declares an anarchist when she decides to only pay about 78% of her taxes for specific reasons. Her rage and hatred of what Harold has come to audit her for only makes him more infatuated with Ana's aura. Although we are supposed to believe that Harold has strong feelings for her as a human being and a desirable mate, he probably has those sort of thoughts about any woman who yells at him and is slightly attractive at the same time. But of course, since Karen Eiffel is writing about Ana and not any other women in Harold's life, we are given the confirmation of Harold's infatuation with Anarchist Ana.

To assist Harold with his quest to resolve the situation, he meets up with Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). Even though I was excited to see both actors interact with each other, Hoffman's character is ultimately disappointing, and I was frequently bored with his and Harold's interactions to solve the source of the narrative. Queen Latifah is also quite dull as the assistant named Penny, who is sent in by Karen Eiffel's publisher to cure Karen of writer's block. Director Marc Forster does an okay job balancing the reality of both Harold’s world and the sudden changes he must make to live his life. However, he just isn’t strong enough as a director to really put his stamp on this piece of work, as well as really bring what's on the screen to another level of depth for us to feel and experience. Also, quirky digi-art qualities, no matter how neat they make the footage of the film seem, do not make a movie.

In the end, so much of the film feels awfully cute and calm, especially in dealing with Harold and his life, but so much of it is still a let down. Even Emma Thompson feels strangely bland on-screen, especially acting as the somewhat neurotic but mostly hyper chain-smoking Eiffel. Stranger Than Fiction could have been an obscure comedy, even romance, but it just feels like a big 105 minute blob of mush by the end. Although the film feels strangely frustrating and boring in its realm, it did make me tear up at the finale, which is somewhat acceptable as a conclusion, but only in a bored-on-a-rainy-day kind of way.

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