Stranger Than Fiction

Directed by Marc Forster and written by Zach Helm, Stranger Than Fiction is the story of an IRS auditor who learns that he’s a character in a book that’s being written as he also learns that he is about to die. The film is an exploration into a man learning about his death as he tries to make some changes where he falls for an anarchist baker while the writer tries to figure out how to end her book. Starring Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, Tony Hale, Linda Hunt, and Dustin Hoffman. Stranger Than Fiction is a quirky yet charming film from Marc Forster.

The world of reality and fiction is very unique as the film is an exploration of a man who hears a mysterious voice where he learns that he is a character for a book being written as the writer reveals that he will die. While dealing with this crisis about his death, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) tries to come to terms with his work as an IRS auditor as he falls for an anarchist baker in Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Especially as he decides to live his life without thinking about numbers while coming to a literary professor about his experiences. Meanwhile, the book’s writer in Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) is dealing with trying to find a way to kill Harold Crick for her book where Crick eventually finds out the identity of the narrator he’s been hearing. It all plays into a writer dealing with her own artistic morality and a man dealing with who he is as they both endure their own existential crises.

Zach Helm’s screenplay starts off playing into what Harold Crick does as he lives his life based on numbers as it is part of a routine that he does. Much of it is told through Eiffel’s narration where all of a sudden, Crick starts to hear her voice as it would affect his work where he would meet his greatest challenge in Ana who despises everything that Harold does as she refuses to pay taxes that she owes. Harold’s encounter with Ana and some of things that’s happening to him in his life would force him to make some changes as he seeks the advice of literary professor Jules Hibbert (Dustin Hoffman) who is asked to find any idea on who the author is which adds to this blur of reality and fiction.

Especially as some of the fiction is played in Eiffel’s head as she struggles with writer’s block while she is being watched by an assistant in Penny Escher (Queen Latifah) who is making sure that Eiffel finishes her book. Yet, reality and fiction would eventually collide when Eiffel learns that the character she is creating is indeed real where it would play not just into her conflict about her ending but also a conflict in Harold over what he would do. Even as Hibbert would play a role into Harold’s fate based on his literary expertise as it plays into the conflict of what is right for the sake of art.

Marc Forster’s direction is very simple in terms of his compositions yet manages to infuse a lot of light-humor and drama to play into the quirkiness of the film. Much of it is shot on location in Chicago which plays into this world that is quite modern but also quaint as it serves as this unique reality in Harold’s life where he has his routines only for things to fall apart in the course of the film. Some of the direction include some unique wide shots, medium shots, and close-ups along with some very engaging approach to the framing in the way Crick is portrayed early on as he is shown in very tight framing devices. Things definitely change once he starts to loosen up and the film begins to feel much looser while the scenes involving Eiffel are a mixture of differing styles where she’s dreaming in some scenes while her struggles are shown in very direct medium shots and close-ups. Even as Forster maintains that idea of comedy vs. tragedy that adds to the film’s conflict where it would play into the climax over what might be Harold’s death. Overall, Forster crafts a very exhilarating and witty portrait of a man who learns about his death as he starts to live and defy the expectations of his possible fate.

Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer does excellent work with the film’s cinematography where he infuses a few shadings and such for some of the film’s interior settings along with low-key lights for some scenes set at night while keeping the daytime scenes very simple. Editor Chesse does nice work with the editing with its rhythmic cuts to play into some of the film’s action and humor while infusing a few montages in the film. Production designer Kevin Thompson, with set decorator Ford Wheeler and art director Craig Johnson, does fantastic work with the very lifeless look of Harold‘s apartment and the IRS office to the more colorful and lively look of Ana‘s bakery and home.

Costume designer Frank L. Fleming does terrific work with the costumes as it’s mostly casual while the clothes that Ana wears play to her anarchist ideals. Visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug does amazing work with the visual effects that often pop-up to play into Harold’s obsession with numbers. Sound editor Geoffrey G. Rubay is superb for the way it plays into some of the film’s locations as well as Harold’s reactions to what he’s hearing. The film’s brilliant music soundtrack is supervised by Brian Reitzell and Britt Daniels as they provide their own score that mixes a few orchestral pieces with some post-punk based cuts while the soundtrack includes pieces by the Clash, the Jam, Spoon, Wreckless Eric, Delta 5, and M83.

The film’s casting by Kathy Driscoll and Francine Maisler is great as it features some notable small performances from Linda Hunt and Tom Hulce as two shrinks that Harold meets upon his breakdown plus a terrific performance from Tony Hale as Crick’s co-worker and friend Dave who tries to find a fun life outside of work. Queen Latifah is excellent as Penny who watches over Eiffel to see if she’ll finish the book while being baffled by Eiffel’s quirky behavior. Dustin Hoffman is amazing as Professor Jules Hibbert as this very smart man who knows about the ideas of literature as he tries to help Harold over his situation while being someone who will play into Harold’s fate. Emma Thompson is brilliant as Karen Eiffel as a revered novelist who is struggling to finish her book and kill Harold Crick as Thompson brings a lot of humor to her character as well as an internal conflict over artistic morality.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is fantastic as Ana Pascal as this fiery baker who refuses to pay her taxes due to her anarchist beliefs as she tries to torture Harold only to realize that he’s not a bad guy as it’s a performance full of humor and warmth. Finally, there’s Will Ferrell in a remarkable performance as Harold Crick where it’s Ferrell in a very restrained performance where he endures all sorts of humiliating moments while trying display someone who had been obsessed with his routines only to be alive as it’s a performance with a lot of heart that showcases Will Ferrell doing more than what is expected from him in the comedies he’s usually in.

Stranger Than Fiction is a phenomenal film from Marc Forster that features a winning lead performance from Will Ferrell. Along with great supporting work from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah, and Dustin Hoffman. It’s a film that plays into the world of reality and fiction plus a man trying to find a new lease on life. In the end, Stranger Than Fiction is a witty yet sensational film from Marc Forster.

Marc Forster Films: (Everything Put Together) - (Monster’s Ball) - Finding Neverland - (Stay (2005 film)) - (The Kite Runner) - Quantum of Solace - (Machine Gun Preacher) - (World War Z)

© thevoid99 2014

007 James Bond Marathon: Quantum of Solace

Based on Ian Fleming’s stories, Quantum of Solace is the story of James Bond seeking vengeance as he goes after the Quantum organization by targeting an environmentalist trying to control Bolivia’s water supply. Bond is then joined by a woman who is also seeking vengeance for her parents’ murder as the two team up. Directed by Marc Forster and screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis, and Joshua Zetumer, the film picks up where Casino Royale left of as Daniel Craig returns as the role of Bond for the second time. Also starring Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Almaric, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Rory Kinnear, and Judi Dench as M. Quantum of Solace is a decent but very messy film from Marc Forster.

After capturing Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to find out who he’s working for, James Bond and M interrogate him only for something to go wrong when M’s bodyguard Mitchell (Glenn Foster) tries to kill M as Bond goes on the chase to go after him as they both realize that Mitchell is a double agent. Mr. White has suddenly disappeared as Bond and M found some banknotes at Mitchell’s apartment that is connected to a contact in Haiti. After finding the contact, Bond meets a woman named Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) whom the contact was supposed to kill as he learns that she’s the lover of an environmentalist named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric). Bond watches the meeting as he learns that Montes is really going after a Bolivian general named Medrano (Joaquin Cosio), for killing her family many years ago, while Greene is making a deal with Medrano about getting land in Bolivia.

Bond travels to Austria to follow Greene as he infiltrates a meeting as he captures the pictures of many who are believed to be part of a secret organization known as Quantum. Yet, Bond manages to kill the bodyguard of a man connected to the British prime minister on his way out as M revokes his passports and credit cards forcing Bond to seek help from his old ally Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) who joins him to Bolivia to find out what Greene is up to as they’re met by a MI6 officer named Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) who wants to take Bond back to London. Instead, Bond takes her to Greene’s party with Mathis to find out what Greene is up to as Montes is also there to find out what is going on. Bond and Montes decide to fly to the land that Greene wants to buy as they are nearly attacked by Bolivian planes where they learn what Greene is up to. With the help of Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Bond and Montes decides to confront Greene and Medrano to learn about Quantum.

The film is essentially a continuation of its predecessor in Casino Royale where James Bond goes after the people who are running a secret organization that he believes is responsible for the death of someone close to him. Throughout this journey, he learns more about this organization yet his thirst of vengeance eventually starts to become a liability for the MI6 as they try to make sure he doesn’t stray from the mission. It’s a very compelling story that has Bond trying to uncover this organization and seek vengeance as he also helps a woman get her revenge as well. It’s just that the story isn’t given the presentation that could’ve made it more captivating.

The screenplay definitely maintains its sense of mystery and intrigue but it’s very unbalanced with lots of action sequences that loses the luster on its suspense. Still, the script does succeed in making Bond more flawed as he still has a bit of inexperience in him in the way he deals with situations and such as he starts to understand more and more about what it takes to be a 00 agent. Helping him in this mission is Camilla Montes who is this woman seeking revenge for her parents’ death as she starts to piece the puzzle of what Dominic Greene is up to. The Dominic Greene character isn’t a traditional villain as he is really more of an organizer that is working for this mysterious organization yet he’s surrounded by people who will help him do things to make sure they’re taken care of.

Marc Forster’s direction has some moments that are quite engaging in some of the film’s action sequences and dramatic moments but he often delves way too much into action film conventions in terms of their presentation. Fast, choppy editing and shaky camera work give way to moments that almost become nonsensical and very hyperactive that it becomes a bit hard at times to follow through. Another problem with Forster’s direction is that the film has too many action sequences and not enough moments for the film to really invest in its mystery and intrigue despite the way he creates some gorgeous images of the locations and setting. Overall, Forster creates a film that tries to play up to the conventions of action films where it lacks the splendor and intrigue of the James Bond films.

Cinematographer Robert Schaefer does some excellent work with the photography by capturing the beauty of some of the film‘s locations in South America and Europe along with some lovely interior lighting schemes for hotel scenes in Bolivia. Editors Matt Cheese and Rick Pearson do terrible work with the editing as it plays too much into the frenetic fast-cutting style of action films where not much makes a lot of sense while not taking enough time to slow things down for the film‘s dramatic moments. Production designer Dennis Gassner, with set decorator Anna Pinnock and supervising art director Chris Lowe, does superb work with the set pieces such as the suite in the Bolivian hotel as well as General Medrano‘s base for the film‘s climatic face-off.

Costume designer Louise Frogley does nice work with the costumes from the tuxedos and clothes that Bond wears to the dresses that Montes and Fields wear in the party scene. Sound designers James Boyle and Martin Cantwell, along with sound editor Eddy Joseph, do some terrific work with the sound to convey the sense of atmosphere that occurs including the film‘s interrogation scene that is inter-cut with an event in an Italian town. The film’s music by David Arnold is pretty good for its mixture of orchestral bombast as well as plaintive folk music for some scenes set in South America to convey the sense of loss that Bond and Montes are going through. The theme song Another Way to Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys is an okay song with lots of orchestral flairs and guitar bombast but it’s all over the place as it’s just a duet that doesn’t really work.

The casting by Debbie McWilliams is wonderful for the ensemble that is created as it features some noteworthy performances from Simon Kassianides as the Quantum member Yusef, Stana Katic as a Canadian agent Yusef tries to target, Neil Jackson as the contact Bond fights in Haiti, Fernando Guillen Cuervo as Mathis’ Bolivian contact, David Harbour as Felix Leiter’s CIA contact, Glenn Foster as the double-agent Craig Mitchell, and Jesper Christensen as the mysterious Quantum official Mr. White. Other small roles such as Rory Kinner as M’s aide Bill Tanner and Joaquin Cosio as the slimy General Medrano are pretty good though Anatole Taubman as Greene’s henchman Elvis is a weak henchman who sports a very stupid-looking haircut. Gemma Arterton is quite fine as the MI6 official Strawberry Fields who aids Bond at Greene’s party while Giancarlo Giannini is excellent as Mathis who helps Bond go to Bolivia while providing insight about Bond’s thirst for vengeance.

Jeffrey Wright is terrific as Bond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter who goes undercover to find out what Greene is up to as he later helps Bond in going after Greene. Judi Dench is superb as M as she tries to deal with Bond’s tactics as well as whether to trust him with this mission. Mathieu Almaric is all right as the villainous Dominic Greene in trying to organize things for Quantum though he’s not a great villain as Almaric doesn’t really get a lot to do as he’s just a lackey for Quantum. Olga Kurylenko is brilliant as Camilla Montes as this woman who is seeking her own vengeance as she displays a sense of charm to her role in the way she interacts with Bond. Finally, there’s Daniel Craig as James Bond where Craig maintains that same sense of grit and weariness to his role as he also makes Bond more flawed in his pursuits as someone who remains haunted by previous events as it’s another captivating performance from Craig despite the film’s flaws.

Quantum of Solace is a very uneven film from Marc Forster that tries to be more of an action film than a suspense-thriller despite the stellar performances of Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko. The film is definitely one of the weakest films of the James Bond franchise due to the fact that it plays too much into conventional action film territory as it doesn’t invest in much time on the mystery and suspense as well as the fact that it’s also one of Forster’s weaker works as a filmmaker. In the end, Quantum of Solace is an okay but very underwhelming film from Marc Forster.

James Bond Files: The EON Films: Dr. No - From Russia with Love - Goldfinger - Thunderball - You Only Live Twice - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Diamonds are Forever - Live and Let Die - The Man with the Golden Gun - The Spy Who Loved Me - Moonraker - For Your Eyes Only - Octopussy - A View to a Kill - The Living Daylights - Licence to Kill - GoldenEye - Tomorrow Never Dies - The World is Not Enough - Die Another Day - Casino Royale (2006 film) - Skyfall - SPECTRE - No Time to Die

Non-EON Films: Casino Royale (Climax! TV Episode) - Casino Royale (1967 film) - Never Say Never Again

Bond Documentaries: Bond Girls are Forever - True Bond - Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007

Marc Forster Films: (Everything Put Together) - (Monster’s Ball) - Finding Neverland - (Stay (2005 film)) - Stranger than Fiction - (The Kite Runner) - (Machine Gun Preacher) - (World War Z)

© thevoid99 2012

Finding Neverland

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/28/04 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

The story of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan has been beloved by many children all over the world since it arrived as a play in the early 1900s. Since then, many film adaptations had come across the board. The most famous was by Walt Disney in his animated version of the film while most recently; Australian director P.J. Hogan shot a new version in late 2003. Yet, not many knew the story of how Peter Pan became created through the imaginative mind of J.M. Barrie. In 2004, Monster's Ball director Marc Forster told the tale of J.M. Barrie's creation based on a book by Allan Knee about the family that inspired Barrie to create Peter Pan entitled Finding Neverland.

Directed by Forster with an adapted script by David Magee, Finding Neverland is a film about Barrie's relationship with Llewelyn-Davies family where he meets them in a park one day with his imagination leading the helm. While finding time to get to know the mother and her four young sons, Barrie's relationship becomes a question amidst London's high society. While Barrie creates his story and play, he tries to balance his life as an artist and as an adult with the heart of a child while dealing with the realities of the world. Starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Radha Mitchell, Ian Hart, Kelly MacDonald, along with newcomers Freddie Highmore, Joe Prospero, Nick Roud, and Luke Spill. Finding Neverland is a movie that lives up to the imaginative world of Peter Pan and its creator.

It's 1903 London as playwright James Matthew Barrie (Johnny Depp) watches the premiere of his new play that receives lukewarm reviews as Barrie was disappointed with the results. Meanwhile, his wife Mary (Radha Mitchell) wants to rise up to the world of the upper-class in high society London as Barrie tries to figure out what to do next. Taking his dog Porthos for a walk to the park, he comes across a family playing in the park led by their mother Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies (Kate Winslet). With the four boys in the eldest George (Nick Roud), Jack (Joe Prospero), Peter (Freddie Highmore), and the youngest Michael (Luke Spill), Barrie is intrigued by the family as he gets to know them as Sylvia is familiar with Barrie's writing. Though Peter isn't impressed by Barrie's imaginative ideas, the rest are as Mary learns that Barrie has met Sylvia in hopes to meet Sylvia's mother Emma (Julie Christie) for her own social status.

The dinner with Llewelyn-Davies doesn't go well due to Barrie's playfulness with the children as he spends more time with Sylvia and her sons seeking ideas for his new projects. While he gets a lots of suspicious rumors swirling around from his friend/noted author Arthur Conan Doyle (Ian Hart), Barrie maintains that it's all innocent as he invites Sylvia and her sons to his cottage home in the country. Turning to his producer in American businessman Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman) for help to gather actors for his new play. When Sylvia becomes ill and Peter feeling very upset about it, Barrie takes them home to Emma who is not impressed by Barrie's presence as too is Mary who felt left out.

Finally coming up with the ideas from his time with Sylvia and her sons as he calls the play Peter Pan while George, Jack, and Michal visit the rehearsal. Barrie talks with George about what to do as he realizes that George needs to be the man in the family. With his play set to open and the high-society crowd is set to see this new play, Barrie decides to leave some seats open for a different audience. With an actress (Kelly MacDonald) playing the role of Peter Pan while Peter watches the show, it would become a hit as Barrie shows the Llewelyn-Davies family a world that could exist through their imagination.

While it's not a perfect film, Finding Neverland does succeed in its balance of a character-driven story of a man trying to find inspiration for a play that he wants to present to children. Marc Forster brings a wonderfully inspiring directing style where he plays with camera angles and shots while leaving everything with a sense of childlike imagination. It's not just a wonderful family drama but the film has a bit of comedy and adventure that both children and adults can enjoy. While David Magee's script does drag a bit on some spots, it succeeds in its characters development and sentimentality that is very understated through Forster's imaginative directing. Even though the Peter Pan character never grew up, in the movie, everyone grows up a bit but still retaining that innocent childlike feeling.

Helping Forster with its dreamy, spectacular visuals is cinematographer Robert Schafer with his wonderfully uses of colors in the stage and imaginative sequences while giving the film a wonderful look in the period scenes. The visual effects by Stuart Brisdon also helps in the film's dreamier, stage sequences along with the production design work of Gemma Jackson and art director Peter Russell for not just the detailed look of early 1900s but also the world of Barrie along with the detailed look of costumes from designer Alexandra Byrne. With Matt Chesse's wonderfully paced editing style, the film looks magnificently gorgeous. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's lush, orchestral score really gives the film a sweeping feel without feeling melancholic and having that nice, dreamy feel to the dreamier sequences of the movie.

Making this film one of the best family films of the year goes to an extremely talented cast of actors with small performances from Kelly MacDonald, Ian Hart, and Angus Barnett as the actor who plays the dog Nana in the stage play. Radha Mitchell is excellent in James' social-climbing wife that could've been a character cliche but Mitchell thankfully, chose to get away from the traps and brought a sympathetic view to her character since she often feels left out in James' world while she has great scenes with Johnny Depp. While Luke Spill and Joe Prospero are wonderful in their respective roles as Michael and Jack Llewelyn-Davies, Nick Roud stood out more as the eldest brother George whose character gets to shine when he has a very poignant scene with Depp that shows a transition from boy to man.

The best supporting performance in the whole film clearly goes to Freddie Highmore as Peter thanks to his melancholic performance as a disillusioned young child who refuses to believe in imagination. Highmore's best scenes are with Depp in an older-younger brother kind of combo that is so emotionally powerful as Highmore is the film's emotional core as this young lad is proving himself among the greats like Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman along with the talented Depp and Kate Winslet. Dustin Hoffman is the film's restrained comic relief in the film as Barrie's producer and guide while delivering some great lines in the movie. Hoffman is truly magnetic in his scenes with Depp while playing the role as a father figure of sorts who is afraid of losing money though he believes in Barrie's vision.

Julie Christie is amazing in the role as the stern, disciplined grandmother who is trying to protect her daughter from being hurt while trying to deal with her social standing. Christie brings a classical grace to her performance as well as a bit of comedy in a sequence where she talks like a pirate with a hook on, as it's wonderful to see the legendary Christie in a film. Kate Winslet, again, proves herself to be one of the best actresses of her generation in a motherly like performance that is filled with maturity and dignity. After coming off the Charlie Kaufman/Michel Gondry quirky comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Winslet proves to be prolific in her work as she has wonderful chemistry with Depp without lying to the point of romance but as a woman who doesn't have a lot of time left leaving her imagination to be her strength. This isn't just one of Winslet's most enduring performances but one that truly shines in the film.

Then there's Johnny Depp who provides another great leading performance after coming off a Best Actor Oscar nod as the kooky Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Depp does a bit of his pirate stuff in the film while balancing his eccentric side with his dramatic, fatherly tone in a performance that is rich and complex. While we see Depp do things that are funny with the heart of a child, we also see a man who knows that he is an adult and a writer while trying to find a balance for it where he knows that he has to be a man. It's truly one of Depp's most realistic and charming performances as this film is likely to guarantee him another Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Despite a few minor flaws, Finding Neverland remains one of the year's best films thanks to Marc Forster's inspiringly-awe direction and top-notch performances from Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, and newcomer Freddie Highmore. Thanks to some spectacular visuals, a lush score, and a mix of sentimentality, drama, and comedy, it's purely one of the best family films of the year. Anyone who loved the story of Peter Pan will find this film to be very informative while being entertained at the same time. If you believe in your imagination, Finding Neverland will fulfill all those dreams.

Marc Forster Films: (Everything Put Together) - (Monster's Ball) - (Stay (2005 film)) - Stranger Than Fiction - (The Kite Runner) - Quantum of Solace - (Machine Gun Preacher) - (World War Z)

© thevoid99 2011