Stranger than fiction is what I would call a slice-of-life movie, one where a character starts hearing his life being narrated by an omniscient voice as if he would be the protagonist of a novel; he ultimately succeeds in meeting with his creator. Directed by Marc Forster in 2006, it stars Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson with the appearance of Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
I have little more to say as it is one of those films that is better to watch rather than to read about. In my opinion it is beautifully crafted and the actors are assurance enough for the quality itself; the narration intertwines well with the scenes and the pacing follows through accordingly. Plot wise it is not, by all means, innovative; the character coming to life and interacting with its creator has already been done in literature. It is the case for instance of Pirandello, Unamuno and I would dare add even Cullen Bunn (who wrote the brilliant Deadpool kills the Marvel Universe trilogy – a comic book that is actually about the search for self-identity).
Stranger than fiction touches upon interesting and important themes, as is the case with such pieces in literature as well as in cinema. The core topics revolve around the weight of a life, what it means to be alive and fear death, what one deems to be important and of course what I call the intrinsic beauty of what surrounds us. Omniscient off-screen narration is a central technique and used aptly within the movie not only to give morals, but to set the pacing as well hint towards something of a more transcendent value.
I would give this movie 7 out of 10 ‘fictional life-like characters’.