Truth is...
Last night, I finally watched Stranger Than Fiction. Its surface provides an interesting, original storyline and great acting: a highly entertaining movie. But underneath (you know me, how can I just let it go at surface?), it's even more compelling.
In case you missed it, Harold Crick begins to hear his life narrated, and one of the first things the narrator reveals is his imminent demise. He goes first to a therapist, and then to a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman). As they explore to determine what type of story Harold's life is (in order to determine his oncoming fate), they come to realize that he's not really living (I know, big surprise). A small point that I found interesting: as Harold goes through his day ticking off Comedy or Tragedy to categorize things that happen in his day, and every time he makes a declaration of which he thinks it's going to be, I would have said the other.
More in the comments, but don't go, if you haven't seen it, 'cause "Here there be spoilers!"
In case you missed it, Harold Crick begins to hear his life narrated, and one of the first things the narrator reveals is his imminent demise. He goes first to a therapist, and then to a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman). As they explore to determine what type of story Harold's life is (in order to determine his oncoming fate), they come to realize that he's not really living (I know, big surprise). A small point that I found interesting: as Harold goes through his day ticking off Comedy or Tragedy to categorize things that happen in his day, and every time he makes a declaration of which he thinks it's going to be, I would have said the other.
More in the comments, but don't go, if you haven't seen it, 'cause "Here there be spoilers!"
Labels: Movies
posted by Beav @ 9:23 PM
3 Comments:
At 9:42 PM,
Professor Howdy said…
Hello!
Very good posting.
Thank you - Have a good day!!!
At 9:48 PM,
Beav said…
I think the thing that impressed me most about this movie was how it handled the ending. The story, like the story that Ms. Eiffel is writing, is written as a tragedy. When you get to the end, Harold should die. But, American audiences being what they are, that's not likely to be widely accepted. So, Harold pulls through, via some Deus Ex Machina, to live his newly-discovered life, and we don't have to cry about it. But, rather than just quietly scooting the corpse of the aborted tragedy away behind the curtain, they bring it forth for all to see and (for the first time in my recollection) explain why you want to make it a comedy (in the classic sense). Why, for the soul of the writer, and the readers (viewers), he must live.
At 7:35 AM,
Bk30 said…
I loved this movie, but then you know I would! LOL. I too was very impressed with it. I was expecting something a little more foolish, but loved the way it dared to go deeper. Harold in the begining could have died and there would have been no issue, but as he changed and grew so did the story. But leads to the question What does an author do when the character takes over? Man could you imagine the coffee conversations we could have over this movie?
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