I haven't felt as happy or as satisfied for years as I was leaving the theater after Stanger Than Fiction. I think I really loved the film for how it handled its clever premise. The plot sets itself up for what could have been an awkward, poorly done meeting of two of its characters, but I think the film handled the situation wonderfully. I also love how the film allows Will Ferrell's character to hear a narrator's voice (from a woman who actually does exist) without explaining why. The answer would have been trivial to the plot. Who cares why he can hear it? I like films that keep us caught up with the characters' available knowledge rather than concocting answers to questions better left unaswered. Will Ferrell was very good. He showed great subtlety in his performance that I never would have guessed was in his range. I also really got into the love story. Sure, it was "cute." But it also felt real in a very surreal way. The film doesn't depict reality in the way we know it to be, but the reality it portrays is very real on the screen. And that's where I took it all in. Great script, too. A lot of comparisons were made to the work of Charlie Kaufman, but I think Zak Helm found his own voice and told a story much sweeter and more endearing than anything Charlie has written. But Charlie's the best out there, so...ya' know...
****1/2
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