Will Ferrell's 'Truman Show'

Emma Thompson's character in "Stranger than Fiction" has an interesting habit. She is a veritable chain smoker but is never seen snuffing out a cigarette in any way that could be considered traditional. She spits into a napkin, then rolls the cigarette butt into the paper, carefully twisting it around the cigarette and then putting the used napkin in her pocket. She won't flick the ash or put the cigarette out on the ground because she is conscious and has no wish to disrupt her environment. It took me three viewings of the film to figure out the habit. My point? Though this habit is never verbally explained in the film, it has the incredible benefit of providing needed depth and intricacy to a minor character. Specificity and subtlety this well-used is rare, even in the best-written movies.\nThe movie's main character, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), is one of those people who instinctively knows the distance of six yards without needing any frame of reference. He is practically made of numbers; he counts tiles and stairs and mentally corrects odd angles to run perpendicular in his surroundings. Crick is the unwilling hero of the film whose all too predictable life is turned upside down when he starts hearing an omniscient voice that narrates his life as though he is the main character in a novel. As it turns out, he is the main character in a novel by recluse author Kay Eiffel, played brilliantly by Thompson. The problem is, she is about to kill him off.\nThe film could have been a race against the clock, could have followed Harold as he frantically searched for the author, attempting to halt the inevitable. Screenwriter Zach Helm is too smart for that, however, and knows Harold's story is worth telling well. We watch as Harold develops relationships, solidifies friendships and falls in love with a smart, warm girl played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. \nDirector Marc Forster has a pitch-perfect ability to match strong directorial skills with the collaboration of his crew. He leaves the stamp of the auteur on his films, and yet they are so different from each other. From the eerie moodiness of "Monster's Ball" to the fanciful "Finding Neverland" to the comedic and nuanced "Stranger than Fiction," Forster is shaping up to be one of the most prolific directors of his generation. Populating the film with talented actors, Forster creates an imaginative character tapestry. Will Ferrell's beautifully underplayed performance is the key to the success of the movie; he plays Harold straight and this has the end result of pairing comedy with quirkiness. \nThe DVD has some special features worth mentioning. It contains several small featurettes on the making of the film. The best one is a surprisingly in-depth look at the use of GUI (Graphic User Interface), a kind of on-screen graphic technique that further explores the mathematical precision of Harold's world. However, like so many DVDs of late, it suffers from a lack of commentary or any original features that might make it a more worthwhile buy. And those obligatory marketing devices used in the "previews" section are just an annoying ploy to get people to buy more DVDs.\n"Stranger Than Fiction" was one of the 10 best films of last year, sadly overlooked by audiences and critics in favor of epic-style dramas with blood and shock value. Each set is a work of art, the characters are wonderfully specific, and the writing is refreshingly original.