Stranger Than Fiction

At first Zach Helm’s script appears to be imitating Being John Malkovich and Adaptation: a stodgy IRS man (Will Ferrell) who’s auditing — and falling for — a free-spirited baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal) starts hearing the voice of a tormented novelist (Emma Thompson) plotting out his life and death, and he goes to a combination shrink and literary critic (Dustin Hoffman) for advice. It’s soon apparent that a closer model for this charming romantic comedy is Bell, Book and Candle. The direction by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball) is so fluffy it’s easy to drift along and ignore the logical lapses. With Queen Latifah. PG-13, 113 min. (JR) Read more