Stranger Than Fiction

2010, 113 minutes

Harold Crick isn't ready to go. Period.

Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service, living his entire life based on the timing of his wristwatch. He is given the job to audit an tax resistance|intentionally tax-delinquent baker, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to whom he is awkwardly attracted. On the same day, he begins hearing the voice of a woman that is omniscience|omnisciently narrating the events in his life, but he is unable to communicate with the voice. On his way home, Harold's watch stops working and he resets it using the time given by a bystander; the voice narrates "little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death". Worried over this prediction, Harold turns to a psychiatrist (Linda Hunt) who attributes the voice to schizophrenia; though they also consider it might be a narrator. Crick visits Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), a university literature professor, and relates his story. Jules first comes to the same conclusion as the psychiatrist, as Harold's dull life is not something commonly seen in novels. However, Jules then recognizes aspects of a literary work in Harold's story ("little did he know"), and encourages him to help identify the author, first by determining if the work is a comedy (drama)|comedy or a tragedy. As Harold proceeds to audit Ana, the two begin to fall for each other, but when Harold refuses to accept cookies that Ana made for him on the grounds that they could be viewed as a bribery|bribe, Ana angrily tells him to leave, making Harold believe the story is a tragedy. Harold spends the next day at home to try to control his own destiny, but his apartment is partially demolished by a wrecking crew mistaking the building for an abandoned one. Harold reveals these facts to Jules, who believes that Harold cannot control the plot that has been set for him and should accept that he will die, telling Harold to enjoy whatever time he has left to the fullest. Harold takes this to heart: he takes an extended vacation from work, develops his friendship with his co-worker Dave (Tony Hale), fulfills his dream of learning to play the guitar, and starts to see Ana on a regular basis. Harold believes he may have mistaken his story and now reassesses it as a comedy. When he returns to Jules with this revelation, Harold inadvertently identifies the voice in his head from a television interview as noted author Karen (Kay) Eiffel (Emma Thompson). Jules, an admirer of Eiffel's work, reveals that every book she has written is about the main character's tragic death. Harold finds Eiffel through her tax records, and learns that she is struggling from writer's block, researching numerous ways to have Crick die. Her publisher has sent an assistant, Penny (Queen Latifah), to make sure the book gets completed. When Karen learns that Harold is a real person and has experienced everything she's written, she is horrified by the thought that all of her previous books may have also resulted in the deaths of real people. She tells Harold she has finally written a draft of the ending and his death, but hasn't typed it up yet. Penny suggests Harold read the book and the drafted ending to get his opinion. Harold is unable to bring himself to read it and gives the manuscript to Jules to review. Jules confirms its excellence and makes clear that Harold's death is integral to its genius. Though Harold is deeply distressed over his fate, Jules comforts him by stating the inevitability of death: this death, at least, will have a deeper meaning by completing the book. Harold reads the manuscript himself over the course of a day; he returns the manuscript to Karen, telling her the death she has written for him is "beautiful" and that she should keep it as it is. Accepting his fate, he spends one last night with Ana. The next day, Harold prepares to return to work after his vacation, despite Karen's voice narrating the fateful day as she types up her planned ending. Because Harold's watch is three minutes fast (owing to the imprecise time given to him when he reset his watch) he arrives at the bus stop early, and watches as a young boy on a bicycle rides in front of the arriving bus. Karen continues to write, narrating as Harold leaps from the curb and pushes the child out of the way, saving the boy at the cost of being struck by the bus. Harold wakes up to find himself in a hospital, severely injured but alive, Ana by his side. He learns that fragments of his wristwatch helped to block the right ulnar artery in his body after the collision, preventing him from bleeding to death. Karen was unable to complete the sentence confirming Harold's death. When Jules reads Karen's final manuscript, he notes that the story is weaker without Harold's death. Karen admits the flaw, although she points out that the story was meant to be about a man that dies unexpectedly; with Harold knowingly and willingly sacrificing himself, the story would have lost its tragic impact. In place of Harold, his wristwatch?Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphized throughout most of the film?is now the character who died tragically. [<a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_than_Fiction_(2006_film)'>Plot summary provided by WikiPedia</a>]


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