Wise and Profound

Stranger Than Fiction is a film, judging from the trailers, that appears to be a quirky, clever little comedy. In reality, it's much more than that, and it's much more than the sum of its parts, as well.

As a writer, I am all too familiar with the sometimes-eerie ways that life parallels art, and vice versa. In Fiction, that's just the jumping-off point; there are quite a few thought-provoking ideas and wise messages to be had here, and they're all cleverly injected into the proceedings without the slightest bit of heavy-handedness or preachiness, from the beginning to the very end.

The casting is superb. Ferrell proves once and for all that he is an actor, Hoffman is terrific as always, and Maggie Gyllenhaal was the absolute perfect choice for Ana, the person who arouses Harold's deeply buried feelings of love. I thought the scene where he plays that song for her on the guitar was the best in the movie. Her reaction when she comes in from the kitchen, the look on her face - that rang true on a profound level. And Emma Thompson, who is a writer herself, brought genuine angst to her portrayal of a person who has to come to terms with what her responsibilities are in this life, both as an artist and as a human being.