this is one of my top 5 movies. the acting is SUPERB and the whole story is so funny and sad and romantic at the same time.
if you're not familiar, harold crick (will ferrell) is an IRS auditor who suddenly one morning hears a female british voice (emma thompson) narrating his life. i think this is will farrell's straightest performance ever, and even though i pee my pants laughing every time he plays one of his stupid/arrogant/angry characters, i really really loved him in this movie. (he even got nominated for a golden globe).
he's a solitary person but he doesn't mind it. he just goes through the motions, kind of detached but not depressed. hearing this voice definitely shakes him up and changes how he would normally react to people around him. most prominently, the love interest, ana pascal (maggie gyllenhaal).
i just find myself smiling during the entire movie as the story unfolds and bizarre things keep happening - not in a slap-stick way, it's not that kind of movie. it's contemplative and sweet but funny and entertaining, too. and the music rocks, i bought the soundtrack. (favorite track: "whole wide world" by wreckless eric. download it NOW.)
and the story is compelling, but the characters are the shining points for me. each one is so important in how they relate to harold because he used to live his life independent of them, and suddenly they become very important to him.
dustin hoffman as the literature professor harold goes to for help and emma thompson as the narrator are awesome, of course. i think they were perfectly cast. queen latifah as emma thompson's assistant was kinda blah for me but an interesting choice.
my favorite scenes are with ana and harold. i have always loved maggie gyllenhaal from the first time i saw her in a movie because she is always just so REAL. even when she's stuck in crap movies like "mona lisa smile" she still makes you believe her character, and you like her even if she's flawed. and in this movie she's just totally confident, unselfconscious and unrepentant but also sweet and caring. she also makes me want to own a bakery and live in her apartment.
anyways, it's kind of one of those carpe diem movies but not in a sappy way. most importantly, it's an awakening for harold crick. he used to go through life unchanging but change is what ultimately makes him happier.
wow, that kinda sounds like i just wrote an essay for this movie and that last paragraph was my "conclusion." how funny. i just can't break those english major habits, i guess.
wow, i kinda wanna watch it right now...see! i even convinced myself! ha.
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