Weston Library Film Club: Stranger Than Fiction

Thursday, December 3, 2026 1:30—4:15 PM Community Room Weston Public Library 87 School Street, Weston, MA, 02493 STRANGER THAN FICTION 2006, 114 minutes In this surreal romance, Will Ferrell steps away from his usual man-child schtick to play a more subdued character as IRS agent Harold Crick. Life for Harold is one boring routine after another and he is very comfortable with it. Then Harold is tasked with auditing Ana Pascal, an artisanal baker who refuses to pay her taxes. Played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ana’s soulful insolence gets under the skin of the otherwise deadpan Harold—so much so that Harold starts hearing the voice of a woman narrating his every action. Needless to say, this unnerves Harold, especially when the voice describes his imminent death. Fearing for his sanity, Harold consults a psychiatrist who can offer no advice other than to seek out a literary professor. Unbeknownst to Harold, the esteemed author Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) is on the edge of despair, as her novel about an IRS agent named Crick is at a complete impasse. Karen’s oeuvre is insightful tragedies, and as she struggles with numerous scenarios involving Harold’s demise, she is just as unaware that her novel’s character has corporeal form. So when the fabric of the universe unravels just enough for Karen to meet up with her bewildered protagonist, things get rather complicated.  Given such a silly premise, Stranger Than Fiction is a surprisingly redemptive film with a resonance far more developed than Will Ferrell’s normal fare. Much of this has to with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s luminous performance along with the presence of Emma Thompson, who manages to be both an omniscient narrative authority and an absolute nervous wreck. BE ADVISED— this film is Rated PG-13, with smoking, drinking, profanity, sexuality, brief nudity, injury, self-destructive daydreaming, tenured hubris, an impromptu demolition ball, and a preternatural case of writer’s block.