Commenting on an earlier post, I mentioned wanting to see Stranger Than Fiction starring Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson. Since nothing I do these days can't wait until tomorrow, I decided to drop everything and catch a matinee. Noon on a weekday is the best time to see a movie. No ticket line, no concession stand line, no toilet line. Six people and I had the entire place to ourselves and my theater's audience consisted of me and another old lady.
Stranger Than Fiction is about a book. Ferrell plays Harold, an IRS auditor who wakes up one day hearing a woman's voice. The voice, which begins as third-person omniscient narration, belongs to Thompson, an author writing a book about Harold's life. Harold seeks help from several people and eventually is led to Dustin Hoffman playing a college literature professor. Whenever the scene turned to Hoffman's office, I tried to figure out what books he had on his packed shelves. Most of the titles were academic, so I had to laugh when he later lifeguards at the campus pool while reading a plastic bag-covered copy of Sue Grafton's I Is for Innocent
Of course, this film reminded me of Adaptation, which is about a screenwriter trying to turn The Orchid Thief
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Adaptation
- The Name of the Rose (poisoned books in a hidden library)
- Misery (an author and his number one fan)
- Secret Window (insanity and plagiarism)
- The Ninth Gate (book detective seeks work of the devil)
- Fahrenheit 451 (readers are criminals)
- You've Got Mail (romance and death of the indie)
- The Princess Bride (bedtime story read aloud)
Surely, there must be many others. Can anyone add to this list?
