Death and Texas - A Review of Stranger Than Fiction (screenplay)

by Aditi Adve

Harold Crick is about as boring a man as you can imagine. With the dream and ability to become a mathematical theorist, he instead works for the IRS. A man of habit, he counts everything - how many strokes he takes to brush his teeth, the number of steps from his apartment to the bus stop, the minutes he allows himself for a coffee break. For nine years, every weekday is the same for Harold, until one fateful Wednesday when he hears a voice while he's brushing his teeth.

No matter how much Harold tries to ignore the voice, it continues to narrate everything he does. His coworkers grow concerned when Harold describes a voice none of them can hear and send him to audit Ana Pascal, an anarchist baker. He inexplicably develops a crush on her, while she hates him and everything he stands for. He puts her from his mind, though, because he keeps hearing the voice talk about him to some imaginary audience. Deciding the voice seems to be narrating his life, he convinces a literature professor, Jules Hilbert, to help him.

The story follows Harold and Professor Hilbert as they figure out that Harold is the main character in the new book of Karen "Kay" Eiffel, a writer famous for killing off all her protagonists. Everything Kay writes somehow happens in real life to Harold. While trying to prevent his own death, Harold begins a relationship with Ana and becomes more laid-back, picking up new hobbies he hasn't had the courage to try before.

Stranger Than Fiction is a tragic comedy. The script has somewhat dark, subtle humor, and the plot is segmented by images of philosophical quotes about life. Music is a big part of the movie, too, as with most good movies. The songs are specified in the script and have meaning to the characters. Unfortunately, the music obviously doesn't have as much effect when reading the script alone, but the emotion behind the song choices still shows through. There is also a certain degree of magical realism in the story, as Harold's wristwatch, the symbol of his habitualness, is anthropomorphised and makes expressions in (positive) reaction whenever Harold does something new.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Stranger Than Fiction. At some points you have to suspend your disbelief, not only in the fact that there is no explanation for why Harold's life seems to follow the plot of Karen's book, but also in smaller moments throughout the story, such as how quickly Harold realizes the voice he hears has something to do with literature and Professor Hilbert believes him. The point of this movie is not to be totally realistic. It is to entertain with its humor and strange plot and, I believe, to point out how much we let our fears and comfort zones prevent us from pursuing passion. There is also, according to one of the writers, "an underlying theme that the things we take most for granted are often the ones that make life worth living and actually keep us alive."

Here is the link to the version of the screenplay I read: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/Stranger-Than-Fiction.pdf (The title of this post will hopefully be more amusing if you read it.)