Ferrell shows deeper side with ‘Fiction’

    This is a story about a man named Will Ferrell. Will lived life as a stereotype. No matter how hard he tried, Will could not escape the label of the moronic, overly self-confident jerk. For 139 “Saturday Night Live” episodes and several hit movies, Will perfected this persona of idiotic excellence. Then, one day, his formula began to fail. After a string of failures, Will became the butt of the joke. 
    Little did he know that events had been set in motion that would lead to his immediate resurgence and success. With his performance as Harold Crick in “Stranger Than Fiction,” released Nov. 10, Will finally has a chance to break the mold and prove he is more than a loud mouth. 
    Harold is your perfectly average and boring IRS agent. Everyday he follows the same routine built around numbers. From brushing every tooth the same number of times, both up and down and side to side, to tying his tie in a single Windsor knot instead of a double to save time, Harold is a man dedicated to consistency. Unfortunately for Harold, this monotonous lifestyle is irrevocably shattered when he begins to hear a woman accurately narrating his every movement and thought. The voice is, at first, just an annoyance to Harold, but the situation turns serious when the narrator speaks of Harold’s imminent death.    
    As Harold, Ferrell is finally allowed to show an emotional depth previous roles had prohibited. Like Jim Carrey in “The Truman Show,” Ferrell proves he has the range as an actor to get both a laugh and a tear during the same performance.      
    Though Ferrell is the obvious star of “Fiction,” the film’s strength lies in the ensemble. Unlike any of his previous projects, Ferrell is surrounded not by the “Frat Pack,” but instead, a set of dramatic actors including Maggie Gyllenhaal and Academy Award winners Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.
    Gyllenhaal plays Ana Pascal, a local baker with anarchist tendencies. Ana is being audited by “Taxman” Harold for paying only the taxes she believes are going for a good cause. Harold finds an intriguing and complex creature like none he has ever known before in Ana. Because of this, he finds it difficult to convey how he really feels about her. This leads to some intentionally awkward scenes between the two would-be lovers. This also makes it all the more enjoyable when Harold decides to put a modern twist on a classic romantic standard.
    Hoffman gives his usual quirky performance as Dr. Jules Hilbert, an English professor who attempts to help Harold with his dilemma. Hoffman and Ferrell share possibly the most emotionally disturbing scene of the movie, as Harold must come to terms with the fact that he is going to die. 
     Though they are on screen for less a minute together, Thompson and Ferrell have the best connection of any of the actors. Thompson plays Karen Eiffel, a reclusive, chain-smoking novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. Eiffel is searching for a way to kill her main character, Harold. Though she spends most of the film as a disembodied voice, Thompson is the driving force behind the story, propelling Harold down the road to his destiny.
    Fans should not expect anything resembling any of Ferrell’s previous works. If you are looking for Ricky Bobby Jr., look elsewhere. But if you are in the mood for a smart, almost profound comedy, this is certainly for you.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 3 2006. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry