LITTLE DID HE KNOW

Maybe it was the whole idea of writer's block that has impelled me to post here after LO, these many months. But for whatever reason, even though I have seen plenty of films since my last post, something about STRANGER THAN FICTION has led me back here after a lengthy absence. I had been laboring under the impression that alot of folks (i.e. critics) weren't nuts for this picture. Perhaps that's true. But I really fell in love with it, quite unexpectedly. There are a lot of reasons this film captured my heart and imagination: the known -yet- still- totally- surprising cameo from Tom Hulce; the indeterminate, vaguely futuristic setting; the clever- without -drawing -attention -to -itself premise; Will Ferrell's subtle and serious and underplayed protagonist; Emma Thompson being just, well, simply gorgeous and brittle and heartbreaking. All of it. This film may have fallen under a lot of people's radar screens because it was thought of as "Charlie Kaufmann lite," but I'll tell you, I will take this film over Charlie's somewhat arrogantly self-indulgent, smarter-than-thou contrivances any day. This one's really a treasure. Please see it.