Stranger than Fiction A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - PG-13 It's 1:53 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

"Stranger than Fiction" gives us Harold Crick as an auditor for the IRS. He is blessed with a mathematical mind, likes to count stairs and tiles, and pretty much lives each workday the same, and I’m assuming his weekends are no different. His life scripted by time, he wakes up at the same time, has the same "getting ready for work" schedule, arrives just in time for his bus, and accepts the fact that no one likes him because, well, as Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), the owner of the bakery he is auditing, puts it, he is the "tax man."

But one day his life begins to be thrown into total turmoil as he begins to hear a voice in his head, describing his life as it happens, narrated by Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson). It seems Karen is an author of tragedies, where the hero always dies, only she is suffering from writer’s block, namely because she can’t figure out how to kill her latest hero. Her latest hero happens to be a character, Harold Crick, who also happens to be an IRS agent, and now Harold’s life is paralleling what Karen is writing. But Karen’s voice in Harold’s head is both a blessing and a curse, because as much as it is driving him crazy, it is also causing him to change his mundane life, and begin to live his life knowing, because Karen told him so, that events have been set in motion that would bring about his death.

Harold, though, in trying to figure out what the hell is going on in his head, first sees a couple of psychiatrists who don’t seem to understand exactly what Harold is experiencing, and then finally Jules, a literature professor, who takes on Harold’s case if only to find out if Harold’s story will be a comedy or a tragedy. It is actually Jules’ analysis that begins to make the most sense, as Jules tries to figure out what author might actually be in Harold’s head, and in the meantime, Harold also falls in love.

Yup, Harold falls for Ann, the bakery dudette he is auditing, and who wouldn’t? She is cute as hell, spunky as hell, and has a soft side to make you feel better after a rough day by giving you milk and cookies, and then maybe some hot sex.

As it turns out, Harold eventually figures out it is Karen writing his story, and he now knows that he must track her down to try and stop her from writing his ending.

I will stop my synopsis at this point because from the moment Harold figures out it is Karen Eiffel writing his story, the movie hits a perfect gear that I can’t remember unfolding since maybe "The Sixth Sense." Suddenly everything makes sense.

At first I was a little worried about Will Ferrell in the role of Harold Crick because we have gotten so used to getting our funny from Will when he is over-the-top. But "Stranger than Fiction" kinda reminded me of the "Elf" Will Ferrell, where he is just a likeable character who can make us laugh. Sure, there was one "yelling" scene for him, but it worked and didn’t distract. And continuing on with great characters, damn, Dustin Hoffman was great as the curious professor, who actually chastises Harold for failing to inform him the narrator in his head had a British accent, Maggie Gyllenhaal was actually adorable, not anything like the character we see in the movie trailer, and even Queen Latifah was good in her role as the assistant brought in by Karen’s publisher to help Karen figure out how to kill Harold.

This is an adult-ish comedy which should be okay for the high-schooler’s and those who can accept Will Ferrell in a, hmm, different kind of comedy role, but if you are looking for Will to scream a lot, wait for "Talladega Nights" to come out on DVD in December. Me, I’ve giving "Stranger than Fiction" 4 stars out of 5. I wish I could explain why I didn’t give it 5 stars, but that would give away a plot-point I didn’t agree with, and it wasn’t even the lack of female boob-age.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!