I'm cheating again because Stranger Than Fiction isn't adapted from a book, but it's about a book, so I think I can be excused.
Will Ferrell is Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who suddenly finds he can hear a woman's voice narrating his life. Not just the exciting bits - oh no, sorry, there aren't any exciting bits - but things like "Harold brushed his 32 teeth exactly 32 times." Harold is a very particular person. His life is ruled by his watch and every day is the same. That is until the narration only he can hear announces his impending death. ("Little did he know ...")
Worried that he's going mad (well, you would be, wouldn't you?) Harold visits a psychiatrist who, unable to convince him he's suffering from schizophrenia, suggests he visit a literature expert. So he goes to see an English Professor played by Dustin Hoffman (cue a few cute Rainman references). He's not sure he can help Harold either - he certainly doesn't think he can do anything to save his life - but he does suggest Harold try and see if he can influence the plot of the book. (I know, it's complicated, stick with me.) So Harold does. He flirts with the baker he's auditing (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). He takes time off work. He buys a guitar. In other words, he starts to live.
Intercut with Harold is the story of the book's author Karen Eiffel played by Emma Thompson. She's suffering from writer's block and just can't work out how to end the book, but her publishers have employed an assistant (an understated performance from Queen Latifah) determined to crack it. Unfortunately, all of Karen Eiffel's books end with the death of the main character, i.e. Harold.
Stranger Than Fiction makes very little sense if you actually try and take it apart - Why has the narration only just started if Karen's been writing the book for years? How come only some parts of Harold's life are narrated and not others? and many, many more questions - but, you know, we're talking about a film in which a character from a book is actually alive and hearing the author narrating his life - this isn't realism!
So, yes, you will of course need to suspend disbelief, but if you do, you can't help but love this film. There are great performances from everyone involved. It's funny, it's sweet (there's one absolutely gorgeous chick lit style moment!), it's intelligent, thought-provoking and life-affirming. I loved it.
