Though Will Ferrell has mostly stuck to comedic roles (recently playing the CEO of Mattel in Barbie), Stranger Than Fiction should have been his big dramatic break. JimVorel's appreciation of the movie and Ferrell's talents:
The gravity of that missed opportunity only feels significant because of how genuinely great Ferrell is inGroundhog Day
, thrusting a comedic legend into a bizarre scenario where they’re largely playing the straight man, with no one around them understanding their unique burden.
This is a fantastical premise, and one that could easily be played as “zany” or insincere, something ripped from a glib episode of. But it’s instead played sincerely and soulfully here, thanks to the work of Ferrell and Thompson, who are both forced to confront the disturbing nature of one person wielding such power over another. Ferrell is the anchor of the film, in a role that has by far the most dignity of any part he’s ever played.
And yet, Ferrell’s well-regarded turn here just didn’t seem to open any new doors for him in Hollywood. His only other genuinely dramatic turn would come four years later in 2010’s, a rather tepid, low-budget indie dramedy about a middle-aged alcoholic man at a crossroads, selling off his life’s possessions at a yard sale after his career and marriage simultaneously collapse.
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