I suppose I'll probably be accused of egotism when I say that I appreciated the movie Stranger Than Fiction on a deeper level than most people will probably get, but at least that's better than some of the other labels a few people have prematurely pasted on me lately. Boo-hoo.
People who have seen the preview to this movie likely assume it is a comedy. And why not? With Will Farrell as the leading man it's easy to see past the clever premise of the movie and presume this is the next in a series of funny flicks starring the former SNL funnyman. The preview, however, does a disservice to the movie itself by missing the scope and depth of the film (and by giving away most of the funny lines). What became apparent to me about halfway through the movie was that this story about a story was in fact a compelling metaphor.
I don't possess the skills of a movie critic and I'm too far removed from my days as an English student to properly outline how the lines between fiction and reality cross in this movie and how that clash parallels our reality so I'll just draw attention to the fact that there is more to this movie than just of string of humorous lines and situations.
Unfortunately, most of my fellow moviegoers sounded as though they were swept up in the surface comedy and they didn't seem to appreciate the larger message about life and death as tragedy, which message moved me to marvel by movie's end, "This is one of the best movies I've ever seen." Whether or not my marveling will subside by morning or my hyperbole will, over time, prove to be true, I'm can't say.
I CAN say Stranger Than Fiction is a thought-provoking, sensitive, movie. Significant elements of the movie impressed me and moved me in unique ways because of my own circumstances but I trust, if you are open, you too may walk away from this movie with a little bit of a deeper appreciation of your life as fiction.
