I just watched Stranger Than Fiction, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d say this one comes highly recommended, except for the fact that I’ve read a bunch of reviews written by people who hated it.
So… I recommend it, but with a caveat: it seems to provoke strong feelings. I think you’ll either love it like I did, or you’ll hate it like the people on the IMDB message boards (if that complains about you needing a login, the title of the thread is “I really believe this is the worst film ever created…”, and that’s pretty much the main thing you need to know.)
I do have to say, though, that this is the second time a movie has stolen one of my ideas. Bastards! (If you haven’t been paying attention, I jokingly accused the makers of this fine piece of horror-porn of pilfering the premise of my first play… except I probably pilfered it from Sartre without having read his work… and I don’t ever plan on seeing the movie to confirm my suspicions…)
I’m with you, I thought this movie was freaking hilarious! I enjoyed every minute of it. I thought Will Farrell did a great job and Dustin Hoffman was great as well. Your title is one of my favorite quotes of his from the movie!
loved it! this movie jumped on to my “must buy” list. and ask many, i don’t usually have a desire to purchase movies. so glad you liked it too, but sorry they stole your idea.
Speaking of movies stealing ideas, I had a great idea once for a story: a video game system that was so revolutionary and realistic that somehow the man holding the controller controlled a real life man, who incidentally went around thieving and killing (a la grand theft auto). At the end of my story the point of view has shifted from the man playing the game to the man inside the game, and it’s through his eyes that we find a familiar building, walk up the stairs, and open the door on the second floor. Inside we find the chair we began the story sitting in, and slouched in it, our starved, sun-deprived corpse.
But then, of course, a crappy movie called Stay Alive (containing all the ideas and none of the art of what I just described) ruined everything. Avoid the movie at all costs.