Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

An IRS 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, Queen Latifah

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 11 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 | irs agent | what if | bakery | death | 

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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

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Killing Harold Crick

Filming Locations:

25th Street & Christiana Avenue, South Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£368,627 (UK) (1 December 2006)

Gross:

£824,082 (UK) (15 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

The last names of all the characters (and the bus line and publishing firm names) are the names of mathematicians, scientists, engineers, artists, etc. (Harold) Francis Crick: with Watson and Wilkins found the structure of DNA; (Ana) Blaise Pascal: French mathematician and philosopher; (Karen) Gustave Eiffel: engineer and designer of the Eiffel Tower; (Penny) M.C. Escher: Dutch graphic artist; (Dr.) Magnus Gustaf Mittag-Leffler: Swedish mathematician; (Professor Jules) David Hilbert: German mathematician; (Doctor) Gerardus Mercator: 16th century Flemish cartographer; (Kronecker Bus Line) Leopold Kronecker: German-born mathematician and logician; (Banneker Press) Benjamin Banneker: free African American mathematician, astronomer, clockmaker, and publisher; (Dr. Cayly) Arthur Cayley, 19th century British mathematician. Even Dave (no last name) seems to be a reference to the main character from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Could these be the 'heroes' of the writer?

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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. Was it 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

[first lines]
Kay Eiffel: [narrating] This is a story about a man named Harold Crick and his wristwatch. Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words. And his wristwatch said even less. Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth seventy-six times. Thirty-eight times back and forth, thirty-eight times up and down. Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would tie his tie in a single Windsor knot instead of the double, thereby ...
[...]

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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

"Live For Life"
(1967)
Written by Francis Lai
Performed by Francis Lai
Courtesy of MGM Music Inc.
Under license from Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

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.