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I looooooved Stranger Than Fiction, the Charlie Kaufmanesque tale of a fictional character becoming aware of his existence as a fictional character, told with a much lighter touch and greater accessibility than Charlie Kaufman might afford.
Maybe I'm a sucker for gimmick flix ... but as long as they don't flub it, I find the exploration of bizarro concepts to be quite rewarding and highly entertaining. Will Ferrell is great in a rare non-slapstick role as Harry Crick, the main character in a novel being haltingly written by Emma Thompson, who's suffering from writer's block.
He's a soulless, by the numbers, socially-inept IRS auditor whose life takes a sharp awakening when he starts to hear author Emma's voice in his head, narrating his life as she writes her novel. With help from a literary professor played by Dustin Hoffman, Ferrell embarks on a voyage of discovery - yada, yada - as he tries to prevent his death by the author who's out to kill him, er, her character.
Growing out of the fun gimmick concept is a film with laughs and sweetness that I highly recommend.
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