Stranger than Fiction

[senorblinky]

Instant Top 20 film.
I've been wanting to see "Stranger than fiction" for a while now, purely because i had a similar idea of an author in charge of someone's destiny, my interest was piqued.

What an absolute pleasure! I can't remember the last time i actually had goosebumps from sheer delight! And it wasn't because there was a blinding realisation, or an unforseen twist, but just because the ending was so incredibly beautiful.

And IMHO, a BRILLIANT substitute to the original, planned ending

Despite the fact that very little happens in the film over an almost 2 hour period, it is quite fast moving, i was never bored. Will Farrell was an unlikely choice for me to start off with, but now i don't want to see anyone else in that roll, he totally nailed it, and i believe we are yet to see great great things from Farrell, the man has depth!
Emma Thompson was lucid to say the least. The little nuances of her character was really enjoyable, but I would’ve liked to see more of it.

The only complaint that i have is that they have this absolutely wonderful and magical idea, but the don't explore it fully, or try to do something alternative with it. However, the result is compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.

Word of warning, i did shed a tear or two, but you'll have to watch the film to see if it was a tear of joy or a tear of sadness. Either or, it's still a beautiful piece of work.

[stoke]

Yea, I enjoyed it as well, though I did not even know the names of the actors, somehow, that did not seem to affect my enjoyment of the movie.

[senorblinky]

Well you've got two powerhouses in there for those who didn't know - Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman. Queen Latifah is the brass balled assistant, Will Farrel is the hero, and the ever elusive Maggie Gyllenhall is the love interest.

Don't you think the quality or climatic increments of the film, or your enjoyment thereof would be affected by the actors portraying the certain rolls?

/me goes to look for flange, he knows about these things... *

[WingNut]

yeah Stranger Than Fiction was a very cool movie, the gf and I enjoyed it alot! And you're right Blinky,even though very little happens, during the movie it never feels slow or boring, it's a captivating story!

[rainy]

Sounds like an interesting cast to say the least. Hoffman is god.

[stoke]

I have never rated a movie based on the actors, aint gonna start now.

[senorblinky]

You can't say that stoke - because the actor gives definite value.
Quentin Tarantino is not a good actor, not at all, but he brings a certain value to the films he stars in, like the odd two episodes of Alias, Jimmy in Pulp fiction, Richie in From dusk till dawn, chester in four rooms (hell, even Bruce Willis had an uncredited role in Four Rooms and that just added to the tilt of the film for me!) - i mean, hardly oscar winning performances, but the audience and his fans surely get a thrill seeing him onscreen and that DEFINITELY adds value to the film.

Look at the Daniel Craig debacle with the latest James Bond flick - can you honestly say that James Bond could be a 300pound balding oke, and still be regarded and action hero? The actor HAS to suit the part.

[stoke]

The actor has to act the part.

[Voicy]

I'm with stokey on this one ... some of the best movies out there have unknown actors.

Look at tv series... the best ones mostly have unknown actors in them too. For example: Band of Brothers.

hehe, four rooms was awesome. I watched it again last week, incidentally. Antonio Banderas also gave that movie a cool flip.

In my opinion, one of the best actors (and certainly my favourite actor) has to be Steve Buscemi. He always plays support roles and the movies are always good - even though nobody knows his name....

but back to stranger than fiction. I thought it was a flippen awesome movie. Really done well. Miss Pascal was very pretty - in the non hot-blonde-babe way. I much rather prefer story movies to action ones.