Happy Tax Day!

I don't quite know when April 15th became a day for Americans to observe/celebrate--beyond the need for procratinators to send in their income tax forms--but Starbucks is giving away free coffee and Taco Del Mar is giving away free fish tacos. Maybe THIS is all that Hope and Change that was supposed to kick in with Obama getting elected? Free coffee and fish tacos for all!

But, always one to jump on a slow-moving band wagon, I am adding to the celebration with a review of the only movie I can think of that features an IRS agent as its main chararcter.



Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffmann, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Emma Thompson
Director: Marc Forster
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

IRS Agent Harold Crick (Ferrell) starts hearing a voice that narrates his every action. In attempting to figure out what's going on, he discovers that he is the main character in a novel being written by an author famous for killing off her characters (Thompson). As Harold tries to figure out a way to prevent his fate, his entire life starts to change.


"Stranger Than Fiction" is a comedy that is quirky in the extreme. It's a comedic fantasy film set in a perfectly mundane world where where, somehow, a novelist's book as come to life. The premise is very intersting, if a bit sappy in its execution, and the film's witty script is presented briskly by a cast of actors who all give execellent performances. (Will Ferrell is particularly remarkable, as his lowkey performance as Harold Crick is funny, touching, and unlike anything else I've seen him do on-screen.)

This is a film that should appeal equally to lovers of romantic comedies and lovers of offbeat films with an "artsy" flavor to them.





Click here for an observance of Tax Day at Shades of Gray.