Comedy or Tradgedy?

Great Actors can play any role that is given them. Kevin Kline, Robbin Williams and William Hurt come to mind, as I contemplate men who have played hero's and villains in comedic or tragic circumstances. Than there is the feeble attempts of those who try hard and often for moments are successful at breaking out of the strait jackets we, the viewing public, have placed them in and they ... well, let's just say come up short. In this category Adam Sandler and Chevey Chase are memorable in their failure to connect.

Will Ferrel's recent attempt at black comedy is a film called "Stranger than Fiction". In it he plays Harold Crick a dull IRS agent, who lives his life by counting the brushstrokes as he cleans his teeth each morning and counting the steps he takes to the bus stop on his way to work. When he starts hearing a voice in his head he naturally becomes upset.

The voice is the that of Kay Eiffel, played fantastically by Emma Thompson, who is an author. Kay's books, we discover are considered literary fiction of the highest order and feature ordinary people who die. Harold is her next protagonist. Kay is in deep depression over the fact that while she knows the story of Harold's life, she is blocked on how she wants to kill him.

When the voice tells Harold that he is going to die, Harold becomes upset and goes on a mission to find the voice before it kills him. After consulting with doctors and friends about his condition, Harold winds up on the doorstep of Jules Hilbert, Doctor of Literature, wonderfully played by Dustin Hoffman. Hilbert sets out to figure out who belongs to the voice in Harold's head by analyzing the style and voice of the writer.

While the script is fascinating in it's structure and the supporting roles played by Thompson and Hoffman are done well, Ferrel has trouble breaking out of his slap stick "I can't believe that just happened to me" persona that has made him a star in so many of those junior high school fart joke movies he's made.

I will give him and A for effort. In some of the scenes he shows promise, but over all I not convinced this guy can carry the load of a fully dramatic role. He either has to work harder on his acting skills or go back to falling on his ass and getting the girl in the kind of comedy's he's been so successful at making.