There’s more than a touch of Charlie Kaufman absurdity to Zach Helm’s screenplay but it’s warmer and less caustic in the way it uses fantasy to plumb human emotions and examines the nature of storytelling.

| Apr 26, 2025

While Ferrell is primarily known for his comedic chops, his performance as a man trying to figure out if his fate is connected to the words of an author in the dramedy Stranger Than Fiction is one of his best.

| Aug 21, 2023

The ending may be mush, but the rest has surprising bite.

| Jun 5, 2023

Helm's strong script is aided by superb direction from Marc Forster and a top-notch cast.

| Nov 20, 2019

The manic spirit of Preston Sturges has a hold of this voyage of self-discovery that's packed with laughs and brilliant performances. Thompson in particular hasn't been this inspired for a long time.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 3, 2018

There just isn't enough wit or style or verve to pull it off. It takes a great premise and then not only fails to run with it, but also fails to go absolutely anywhere with it at all.

| Aug 22, 2018

"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.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Mar 30, 2011

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

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2011

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.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 11, 2010

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

| Original Score: C- | Aug 29, 2009

Suggests how cleverness can suffocate people

| Aug 28, 2009

Forster lards over his whimsically feeble film with sentimentality.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 23, 2009

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 81/100 | Dec 3, 2008

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

| Dec 2, 2008

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

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 20, 2008

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.

| Oct 18, 2008

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

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 7, 2008

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.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 28, 2008

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.

Full Review | Sep 22, 2007

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.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 14, 2007