Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

All Critics (173) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (129) | Rotten (49) | DVD (22)

The actors and the filmmakers all take a more restrained approach than you might expect, keeping the humor gentle, and the jokes mostly as literary as the premise.

October 18, 2008 Full Review

Bob Mondello

NPR.org

Top Critic

An uncommonly plastic bit of Hallmark sentiment-mongering, with exactly the kind of New Age psychobabble ending youâ(TM)d expect.

February 3, 2007 Full Review | Comment (1)

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out New York

Top Critic

A film well worth seeing and savoring.

November 15, 2006 Full Review

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

Stranger Than Fiction seems like an old episode of the Twilight Zone, and the idea would have worked better as one of Rod Serling's half-hour epistles on human foibles.

November 10, 2006 Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

Stranger Than Fiction is both about a novel and like a novel; you eagerly await the turning of the pages.

November 10, 2006 Full Review

Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

Top Critic

It doesn't coast on its premise but follows where it leads, which is into some serious territory. What might have been a joke with a tagged-on sentimental ending becomes instead a sensitive movie that affirms the value of life.

November 10, 2006 Full Review

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

Intriguing possibilities, except Helm and Forster aren't quite Kaufman and Jonze. Once their parallel narratives converge, those hoping for a mind-bending meta-pile-up may feel the movie lacks the courage of its fatalistic fiction.

November 16, 2012 Full Review

Luke Goodsell

Empire Magazine Australasia

"It's not the best piece of English literature of the last ten years," Dustin Hoffman says of Emma Thompson's newest novel, "but it's not bad." That just about sums up Stranger Than Fiction, too.

March 30, 2011 Full Review

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

Touching dramedy is heavy; won't interest most kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review

Jane Boursaw

Common Sense Media

Inventively inverting "Adaptation.'s'" anxiety into light romance, "Fiction" is one of the most intelligent, lively, charming and beguiling concept comedies since "Groundhog Day" and a perfect seriocomic splinter of Will Ferrell's big-baby shtick.

October 11, 2010 Full Review

Nick Rogers

Suite101.com

"Stranger Than Fiction" is a sterile and pedantic comedy that tells much more than it shows.

August 29, 2009 Full Review | Comment (1)

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Suggests how cleverness can suffocate people

August 28, 2009 Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Forster lards over his whimsically feeble film with sentimentality.

April 23, 2009 Full Review

Peter Keough

Boston Phoenix

The special edition Blu-ray disc is a treat, providing several nice extras.

December 3, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Brian Webster

Apollo Guide

Some of Will Ferrell's biggest fans might find it overly tame and subtle, but it's interesting, enjoyable and a revelation to see he can keep his pants on and still entertain.

December 3, 2008 Full Review

Brian Webster

Apollo Guide

... a highly recommended purchase for major fans of the movie.

December 2, 2008 Full Review

Felix Gonzalez Jr.

DVD Review

It could have been great. But it's just okay.

December 2, 2008 Full Review | Comments (3)

Felix Gonzalez Jr.

DVD Review

What starts out as a complex, intriguing movie turns stale quickly.

November 20, 2008 Full Review

Brian Marder

Hollywood.com

The movieâ(TM)s unforgivable logical flaws and gummy platitudes donâ(TM)t sink it...thanks to Ferrellâ(TM)s fine and humane performance.

August 7, 2008 Full Review

Jonathan Kiefer

Sacramento News & Review

Stranger Than Fiction is not a fluff film. Far from it. Literate and engaging, it may parade around in nonsensical clothes, but just scratch the surface and a vast reservoir of post-modern existentialism is revealed.

February 28, 2008 Full Review

Brandon Fibbs

BrandonFibbs.com

The place where the film runs into problems is in trying to decide, like Harold, as to whether or not it is a comedy or a tragedy. As we know, comedy sells much better and that's the direction the film leans.

September 22, 2007 | Comment (1)

Beth Accomando

KPBS.org

Strong performances and an interesting-enough script make Stranger Than Fiction an enjoyable night at the movies, even if the logic breaks down in places and the ending feels disingenuous.

July 25, 2007 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Though there are enough interesting moments to keep it refreshing, Mr. Helm's script never rises above its conceit to reach the giddy Charlie Kaufman heights to which it aspires.

July 14, 2007 Full Review

Joe Lozito

Big Picture Big Sound

• 1. Harold Crick: I brought you flours.
  – Submitted by Kenneth R (11 months ago)
• 1. Professor Jules Hilbert: Aren't you glad you're not a golem?
  2. Harold Crick: Yes. I am glad I'm not a golem.
  – Submitted by waverly p (13 months ago)
• 1. Karen 'Kay' Eiffel: If only he knew that by wednesday he will die.
  2. Harold Crick: What? Did you who said that?
  – Submitted by Yariv A (14 months ago)
• 1. ER Orderly: Are you suffering from something?
  2. Karen 'Kay' Eiffel: Just writer's block.
  – Submitted by Diego T (14 months ago)
• 1. Penny Escher: And I supposed you smoked all these cigarettes.
  2. Karen 'Kay' Eiffel: [beat] No, they came pre-smoked.
  3. Penny Escher: [deadpan] They said you were funny...
  – Submitted by Diego T (14 months ago)
• 1. Harold Crick: Thank you for forcing me to eat them.
  – Submitted by Diego T (15 months ago)