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Fiction:
It’s strange, but probably the best thing Ferrell could’ve done for his
career at this point in time. I mean, how many times can we watch Frank
the Tank run bare butt down a busy city street?
This time a
decade ago – or near enough to – fellow comic Jim Carrey, was
attempting to do the same: show audiences he’s more than funny faces
and pants wetting pranks. It didn’t really work out for Carrey, though
critics loved him in The Majestic and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, audiences didn’t, they wanted plastic-man back.
And
I can tell you now, as great as he is in it, and power to him for doing
it, Ferrell will be following suit. His stay in sans-ha,ha laugh is a
brief one. He’ll be back onto the comedy highway before the year’s out.
Once you get locked into a certain type of role or character in this
business – just ask Stallone, or even Bill Shatner – it’s hard to get
people to see with anything other than the original mask you wore.
Ferrell’s
foray into ‘dramedy’ (granted, this film’s a lot lighter than some of
the heavier fare that Carrey dove into) is a Charlie Kaufman-esque
too-smart-for-its-own-good effort about a man who discovers he’s
actually the character in a book that’s still being written.
He
plays Harold Crick, the very-real guy in a very-real book in progress.
Little does author Karen “Kay” Eiffel (Thompson) know that Harold Crick
is unaccountably alive and well in the real world and suddenly aware of
her worlds. Fiction and reality rear-end when the disorientated and
amusingly unwilling Harold hears what she has in mind and realizes he
must find a way to change her (and his) ending.
Whilst Zach Helm’s screenplay still isn’t at the level of Kaufman (who gave us such brilliant brainteasers as Adaptation and Being John Malkovich)
for a first time screenplay, it’s still rather superb. It is
deliciously creative, and seems determined to be anything other than a
normal movie. It succeeds too, with the film being a rather eccentric
beast – one with real teeth.
Thanks to Ferrell’s wonderful
performance (as well as heavily worked co-star, Maggie Gyllenhaal,
playing the unlikely love interest; didn’t go for Ms Thompson as much
here, she just didn’t seem to have much to do) it’s also an enjoyable
movie. You won’t laugh your ass off, you won’t cry your mascara away,
and nor will you be on the edge of your seat for the film’s duration…
but you’ll still be engrossed, engrossed in the character of Harold.
Points for bravery, Ferrell.
EXTRAS
DVD extras include a bunch of featurettes - all tackling various
subjects; interviews and some deleted scenes. Not a bad offering. Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 60%
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