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Stranger Than Fiction
- 459 statements
- 90 feature instances
- 69 referencing feature instances
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Stranger Than Fiction | |
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Stranger Than Fiction is a 2006 fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster, written by Zach Helm, and starring Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, and Queen Latifah.Mundane IRS auditor Harold Crick (played by Ferrell) is minding his own business, living his daily routine, when one day, he begins to hear a voice... the voice of an author. Her voice follows him everywhere, narrating his daily activities, much to his annoyance. After all, there's not much to narrate. Beyond going to work, brushing his teeth, and eating meals alone, nothing at all happens worth narrating. Until he hears one line that changes everything. "Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death."That one narration is enough to thrust Harold into action, eager to do anything it takes to avoid his death. Though told he's schizophrenic by the psychologist he sees, Harold refuses to believe such a diagnosis. Instead, he seeks out the foremost professor in literature, Dr. Jules Hilbert (played by Hoffman). Hilbert quizzes him extensively on the narrator, then sets Harold to figuring out whether he's in a comedy or tragedy. After all, in a comedy he'll get hitched, but in a tragedy he'll die.At the same time, author Karen Eiffel (played by Thompson) wrestles with severe writer's block. She's been working on her latest novel for quite some time, but is at a complete loss at how to kill off her protagonist... one Mr. Harold Crick.For the idiomatic definition of "stranger than fiction", see Reality Is Unrealistic. | |
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Dropped link to AnAesop: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_141b5985 | type |
Morning Routine | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_141b5985 | comment |
Morning Routine: How the movie starts is with Harold's routine, and Eiffel narrating it. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_1439161f | type |
Heroic BSoD | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_1439161f | comment |
Heroic BSoD: Karen has one when she assumes that because Harold is real that her other characters were as well, leading her to believe that she killed multiple people. Harold also has several: one when he learns he's to die, and another when waiting for Hilbert to determine his fate in the manuscript. The bus driver who seemingly kills Harold in the accident has a breakdown in the aftermath, and in the epilogue, is seen still staring off into space, comforted by her co-workers. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_1777688d | type |
Genre Savvy | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_1777688d | comment |
Also, being Genre Savvy, Hilbert asks if he has recently met anyone whose shaken up his life. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_1950b76f | type |
A Good Way to Die | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_1950b76f | comment |
A Good Way to Die: After reading through the draft of Eiffel's novel about him, Professor Hilbert tells Harold that his death is required to truly make the novel a literary masterpiece. Harold then brings himself to read the draft, and realizes he has to die to save a boy. He then accepts his impending death as this trope. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_1ae27a74 | type |
Fridge Horror | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_1ae27a74 | comment |
Then again, once you realise that some people tend to name their children after fictional characters... | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_1ec3eb0a | type |
Take Our Word for It | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_1ec3eb0a | comment |
Take Our Word for It: The brilliance of Eiffel's original ending. It's hard to tell from watching the film where the poetry was in Harold dying from a confluence of three different storylines—his own, the boy on the bike's, and that of the bus driver. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_21c863c3 | type |
Plaster Cast Doodling | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_21c863c3 | comment |
Plaster Cast Doodling: At the end of the movie, Anna draws a watch with a smiley face on Harold's arm cast, after his real watch inadvertently saves him from death. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_21e5b9c7 | type |
Failed a Spot Check | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_21e5b9c7 | comment |
Failed a Spot Check: The construction crew who demolishes Harold's apartment under the assumption it was a condemned building. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_222dc873 | type |
Black Comedy | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_222dc873 | comment |
Black Comedy: Professor Hilbert's casual mention of Harold's death and Harold's own mounting hysteria over the subject is, frankly, a bit funny to watch. Related to below, Karen's Break the Haughty scene and her imagining potential deaths for Harold are also funny. Especially in contrast to her assistant Penny's seriousness. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_22cf536c | type |
Chekhov's Gun | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: The watch. Repeatedly pointed out as such—in fact, treated by the narrator like an entirely separate character. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_272abb98 | type |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_272abb98 | comment |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: According to Professor Hilbert, all of Karen Eiffel's previous novels have ended with the protagonist dying just short of accomplishing something, and the rough draft of Harold Crick's story is no different. It later becomes part of the reason as to why Karen rewrites the ending—she tells Hilbert the dramatic irony and poignancy of Harold's death would have been nullified by someone who willingly went to die for a noble cause. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_275ca6e1 | type |
Ass Pull | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_275ca6e1 | comment |
Ass Pull: In-Universe. Karen is able to save Crick's life by instead making his wristwatch the primary character and the one who dies without meaning, thus sparing Crick without completely destroying her usual themes or writing. Hilbert notes that this makes the resulting finished product a lot weaker. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_2af6bbeb | type |
Break the Haughty | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_2af6bbeb | comment |
Break the Haughty: This happens to Karen Eiffel, successful and assured in her own abilities until she realizes everything she's been writing is true, and she may have killed actual people with her last books. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_2bc0fc4d | type |
Ice-Cream Koan | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_2bc0fc4d | comment |
Ice-Cream Koan: From the HR guy in Harold's office: "A tree doesn't... think it's a tree. It is a tree!" This is also part of Karen's ongoing narration: "Of course trees were trees. Harold knew trees were trees." Harold (thanks to the narrator) decides he hates the HR guy for this. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_2d4d16d9 | type |
I Know You Know I Know | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_2d4d16d9 | comment |
I Know You Know I Know: Inverted hilariously when Harold mentions to Professor Hilbert that the narrator said "Little did he know": | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_2ec219ee | type |
Butterfly of Doom | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_2ec219ee | comment |
Butterfly of Doom: Variant: If not for a trivial event at the beginning of the movie, the events leading up to Harold Crick's untimely death would not have happened. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_337a0f4 | type |
TrailersAlwaysLie | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_337a0f4 | comment |
Trailers Always Lie: The movie was portrayed as typical Will Ferrell comedy in advertisements, which it is decidedly not. Also counts as Playing Against Type: Will Ferrell is usually wacky and over-the-top in his roles, but the wackiest moment in the movie is his Rage Against the Author moment, which is actually justified and pretty low-key. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_33f067ea | type |
So Okay, It's Average | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_33f067ea | comment |
So Okay, It's Average: Discussed in-universe when Professor Hilbert reads the revised ending of Death and Taxes where Harold lives in contrast to the original ending making it one of the greatest literary masterpieces in modern history. Karen decides that she's perfectly happy with her book just being "okay." | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_382a6399 | type |
The Hero Dies | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_382a6399 | comment |
The Hero Dies: The fate Harold is trying to avoid. In-universe, Karen is famous for doing this in every book she writes. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_396e1c2a | type |
Face Death with Dignity | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_396e1c2a | comment |
Face Death with Dignity: Once he finally sees what's in store for him, Harold gives Karen permission to finish her book as it's originally written. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_3a3489f | type |
Fourth-Wall Observer | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_3a3489f | comment |
Fourth-Wall Observer: A variation: Harold can hear the narrator, but turns out the Fourth Wall isn't technically up in the first place. Which makes the fourth wall sort of a one-way mirror. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_3c37d01e | type |
Slipstream Genre | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_3c37d01e | comment |
Slipstream Genre: It's more this than Magical Realism, both in terms of the movie itself and possibly in Karen's book, what with the watch being portrayed as vaguely sentient. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_3fca462c | type |
Deus ex Machina | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_3fca462c | comment |
Doing so was how the above Deus ex Machina was pulled off. Harold's watch was treated like a main character in both the book and movie, in the vein of Notre Dame itself being a sort of main character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (to the point of being the titular one with the French title, Notre Dame of Paris), and Karen's Signature Style involves a character dying in the end. Since the watch was treated as such, she technically still fulfilled that by having the watch perform a Heroic Sacrifice, and not have to sacrifice Harold for the sake of her novel. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_46019790 | type |
Little Did I Know | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_46019790 | comment |
Little Did I Know: Conversed seeing that it's in many ways a movie about stories and tropes, it features a literature professor who explains that he's taught "entire seminars on 'little did he know.'" It's also a subversion —the main character can hear the voice of the narrator, and so knows very well what he should little know (specifically that he is going to die soon), and spends most of the film trying to prevent it. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_46290b93 | type |
Manic Pixie Dream Girl | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_46290b93 | comment |
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Ms. Pascal, and their developing relationship, is one of the things that gives Harold something to live for. Also, being Genre Savvy, Hilbert asks if he has recently met anyone whose shaken up his life. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_48f0ca7f | type |
PostModernism | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_48f0ca7f | comment |
Postmodernism: The narrator doesn't know they are the narrator. Or if in her story as written Harold knows there is a narrator. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_5009999d | type |
Painting the Medium | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_5009999d | comment |
Painting the Medium: For the audience. The narrator in any other movie would be the usual disembodied narrator, but here the main character reacts to a voice, as you probably would do when someone describes your life in detail and especially from a "third-person omniscient" perspective. One of the tasks Hilbert gives Harold is to figure out if his story is a comedy or tragedy. It's hard to tell this about the film itself, there's certainly humor but also a lot of dark drama, and right up until the end you can't fully be sure if Harold will live or not. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_5313c266 | type |
Bookends | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_5313c266 | comment |
Book Ends: The opening narration talks about Harold's wristwatch's opinions on Harold. The ending talks about how Harold's wristwatch decided to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save his life. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_532a8261 | type |
Bookworm | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_532a8261 | comment |
Bookworm: Dr. Jules Hilbert, justified since he's a professor in literature and one of the notable names in his field. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_53c3fa83 | type |
Granola Girl | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_53c3fa83 | comment |
Granola Girl: Ana Pascal, our resident baker, is of the "hate The Man" type. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_5d4be8ab | type |
Soulless Bedroom | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_5d4be8ab | comment |
Soulless Bedroom: Harold's bedroom (and the rest of his apartment) starts out completely devoid of any kind of personal objects or decorations, looking like something out of a furniture catalog. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_5ee6a992 | type |
Oh, and X Dies | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_5ee6a992 | comment |
Oh, and X Dies: Early in the novel (and film), it's made clear that Harold is going to die at the end, and this is what kicks off his quest. He doesn't. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_6439de78 | type |
Heroic Sacrifice | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_6439de78 | comment |
Heroic Sacrifice: When Harold Crick reads the ending Karen Eiffel finally decided on: that he is killed by a bus after pushing a child out of the way: he decides that preserving the plot of the novel and continuing to knowingly be a part of this literary masterpiece is a sacrifice worth making, and goes through with it with full knowledge of the consequences. Both the novel and the film itself treat Harold's watch as its own character. When the bus slams into Harold, the first thing it hits is his watch—which is destroyed, but a part of it becomes embedded permanently in his arm and slows down the hemorrhage that would have killed him otherwise. So just like Harold stepped in front of a bus to save a child, his watch took the brunt of the hit for him. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_6b05b601 | type |
Jerkass Has a Point | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_6b05b601 | comment |
Jerkass Has a Point: As incredibly brusque and seemingly uncaring Hilbert is about the inevitable death of Harold, people DO have their lives changed for the better from literary works—and he knew about Harold saving the child in the end, too. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_6b3c357e | type |
Ivy League for Everyone | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_6b3c357e | comment |
Ivy League for Everyone: Downplayed with Ana. She went to Harvard but only, from her own admission, because she wrote in her essay that she will use her degree to make the world a better place and had a -D report card by the end of the year. Ana dropped out to become a baker. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_6b3c357e | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_6d57a234 | type |
Lemony Narrator | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_6d57a234 | comment |
Lemony Narrator: In-universe example with Karen Eiffel's narration, which can get quite sarcastic about Harold's life. Notable that she's not a man (though she is British), unlike most examples of this trope. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_6de438eb | type |
The Everyman | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_6de438eb | comment |
The Everyman: Harold is depicted as the average man, to the most boring degree possible. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_71d3801a | type |
Reality-Writing Book | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_71d3801a | comment |
Reality-Writing Book: Presumably, any book Eiffel writes a story in could affect reality. It's definitely happening to Harold, and Eiffel is shaken that it could have happened to her previous characters. It does have to be typed out, as she had a draft of the ending done on legal pads that didn't effect reality. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_7241785e | type |
You Can't Fight Fate | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_7241785e | comment |
You Can't Fight Fate: There's nothing Harold can do to stop his death because he's just a character in someone's story. The person writing this story, on the other hand, can defy fate all they want, because they are fate. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: "Harold's life was full of moments both significant and mundane." It also references the notion without the exact words a few times. "Little did he know..." | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_78f72406 | type |
Endearingly Dorky | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_78f72406 | comment |
Endearingly Dorky: It's implied that Ana finally starts falling for Harold because he's goofy and endearing, and it's pretty easy to see why. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_7fb533de | type |
Author Powers | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_7fb533de | comment |
Author Powers: Eiffel can kill people by writing their deaths in her stories. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_7fbe9a30 | type |
Freak Out | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_7fbe9a30 | comment |
Freak Out: Harold finds out he is going to die in a pretty unconventional and profound way, after all. That poor, poor lamp... Eiffel goes through one when she realizes Harold was real, and starts wondering if she really killed people with her previous books. She later breaks down in a furious fit when she starts to finish his death scene. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_7fbe9a30 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_80523de9 | type |
Like You Were Dying | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_80523de9 | comment |
Like You Were Dying: The premise of the movie. Harold thinks he's going to die soon. Professor Hilbert's advice is to do whatever it is he's always wanted to and never had the chance to | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_80523de9 | featureApplicability |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_80523de9 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_80523de9 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8391b1c7 | type |
Artistic License – Law | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8391b1c7 | comment |
Artistic License – Law: Most professions that are prohibited from accepting gifts have a minimum dollar amount. A batch of cookies would likely not be considered material. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8391b1c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8391b1c7 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8391b1c7 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_85162d49 | type |
Author's Saving Throw | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_85162d49 | comment |
Author's Saving Throw: Amazingly enough, an in-universe example. Karen Eiffel decides that she doesn't want Harold Crick to die after all, so she writes another ending that she admits is a Deus ex Machina. Her novel was initially about someone who dies unexpectedly, but when she meets Harold Crick, he gave his life willingly, knowing what she had planned for him and that it was for the greater good. She decides to revise the story she's already written so that the "character" that dies is Harold's wristwatch, which has been treated as a protagonist in its own way since the opening moments of the film. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_85162d49 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8741b74 | type |
Playing with a Trope | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8741b74 | comment |
Played with. Professor Hilbert is Genre Savvy because he studies literature, but they can't take advantage of it because they don't know what kind of story Harold Crick is in. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_8741b74 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8741b74 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8b221a63 | type |
Reed Richards Is Useless | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8b221a63 | comment |
Reed Richards Is Useless: Considering everything that Eiffel writes in her story ends up happening, she very well could put things in the book that would help the world. It's justified because she has no idea she can do this. Though she never seems to get such an idea after finding out. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_8b221a63 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8b221a63 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8becc5c5 | type |
Existential Horror | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8becc5c5 | comment |
Existential Horror: Eiffel starts having a breakdown when she first sees Harold and realizes this very real man looks exactly like the character she made up, spiraling as she hears him talk about hearing her voice in his head narrating his life, then turns to dread as she starts to worry that she might have been killing other people in meaningless ways in her past books just like she thinks shes condemned poor Harold. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_8becc5c5 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_8becc5c5 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_95cb7004 | type |
Only Sane Employee | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_95cb7004 | comment |
Only Sane Employee: Karen Eiffel's publisher hires a "personal assistant" to make sure she finishes her new novel. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_95cb7004 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_95cb7004 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_95cb7004 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96a33f11 | type |
Riddle for the Ages | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96a33f11 | comment |
Riddle for the Ages: Did Karen alter reality somehow and make Harold a real person? Or are Harold's life and Karen's book an astronomically improbable (but possible) coincidence? We never learn either way. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96a33f11 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96fbeaf | type |
There Are No Therapists | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96fbeaf | comment |
There Are No Therapists: Played with; a therapist is one of the first people Harold visits, and though his problem is outside her field (she just thinks it's schizophrenia), she does help point him to Dr. Hilbert. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96fbeaf | featureApplicability |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_96fbeaf | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_99ddfcec | type |
Unwitting Instigator of Doom | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_99ddfcec | comment |
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Dave, Harold's friend at the IRS, hands Harold the folder that leads to an incredibly frustrating audit and his imminent (though avoidable) death. Dave obviously was trying to help a distressed Harold and clearly thought he was handing over the easier job; it just turned out to be anything but. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_99ddfcec | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_99ddfcec | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9b58cb65 | type |
Roofless Renovation | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9b58cb65 | comment |
Roofless Renovation: Completely accidental, as it turns out, but still railroads our reluctant protagonist. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9b58cb65 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9b58cb65 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9b58cb65 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9ce6492a | type |
Taking the Bullet | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9ce6492a | comment |
Both the novel and the film itself treat Harold's watch as its own character. When the bus slams into Harold, the first thing it hits is his watch—which is destroyed, but a part of it becomes embedded permanently in his arm and slows down the hemorrhage that would have killed him otherwise. So just like Harold stepped in front of a bus to save a child, his watch took the brunt of the hit for him. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9ce6492a | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9d72c7fe | type |
Fan Boy | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9d72c7fe | comment |
Fanboy: Jules is one for Karen, sending her lengthy letters about the beauty of her tragedies. She never replies, though, making him worry that they just got thrown away. (Turns out, Karen loves them and relishes his rich prose, with her reactions to them bordering on Ship Tease.) | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_9d72c7fe | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a1b141f4 | type |
My God, What Have I Done? | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a1b141f4 | comment |
My God, What Have I Done?: A shocking realization happens to Karen Eiffel twice. The first time, it's when she's learned that Harold is real, that what she's written actually happens to him, and that she may have killed real people with her previous novels. The second, combined with a Heroic BSoD, is after she's just typed out the sentence that kills Harold. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a1b141f4 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a270b9e5 | type |
Anarchy Is Chaos | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a270b9e5 | comment |
Anarchy Is Chaos: Ana Pascal seems to think so when says that anarchists assembling in groups would "defeat the purpose". | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a270b9e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a270b9e5 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a270b9e5 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a4cd4fc6 | type |
Cruel Twist Ending | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a4cd4fc6 | comment |
Cruel Twist Ending: Eiffel's signature is a sudden death for the protagonists just as their lives were improving. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a4cd4fc6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a4cd4fc6 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a4cd4fc6 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a6cda066 | type |
Rule of Three | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a6cda066 | comment |
Rule of Three: Harold tries to phone call Karen while she is writing the very scene happening. In the first two tries Karen is unsure that is Harold calling; in the third, she goes running to answer the call. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a6cda066 | featureApplicability |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a6cda066 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a7382a73 | type |
Imagine Spot | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a7382a73 | comment |
Imagine Spot: Of the writer jumping from the tall building. We then cut back to her standing on a table. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a7382a73 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a7382a73 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_a7382a73 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ab5eea65 | type |
Dramatic Irony | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ab5eea65 | comment |
Dramatic Irony: "Little did he know..." In fact, little did she know, he knew. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ab5eea65 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ab5eea65 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ab5eea65 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ad641426 | type |
Trademark Favorite Food | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ad641426 | comment |
Trademark Favorite Food: Hilbert's copious coffee consumption. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ad641426 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ad641426 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ad641426 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ae3d6438 | type |
Deadpan Snarker | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Karen Eiffel. Penny is one too, in a quiet, subtle, lethal way, as shown by her reply: Jules too. And the psychiatrist Harold visits in one scene. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ae3d6438 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_aec19d54 | type |
Hyperlink Story | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_aec19d54 | comment |
Hyperlink Story: An in-universe example with the bus driver and the little boy on the bicycle, recurring unnamed characters who don't appear to have any bearing on the plot but turn out to be instrumental to Harold's fate. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_aec19d54 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b1dde8fd | type |
Loophole Abuse | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b1dde8fd | comment |
Loophole Abuse: Ana has been refusing to pay her taxes as a form of protest against the government. Harold later informs her her that she can write off the food she gives away as charitable donations thus lowering her tax bill and minimizing how much she has to give to the government she hates. Although she says that this would go against the principle of her form of civil disobedience, she relents when Harold points out that it's a middle ground that would allow her to screw the government while continuing the work she's doing in the local community. Doing so was how the above Deus ex Machina was pulled off. Harold's watch was treated like a main character in both the book and movie, in the vein of Notre Dame itself being a sort of main character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (to the point of being the titular one with the French title, Notre Dame of Paris), and Karen's Signature Style involves a character dying in the end. Since the watch was treated as such, she technically still fulfilled that by having the watch perform a Heroic Sacrifice, and not have to sacrifice Harold for the sake of her novel. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b1dde8fd | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b4a6ae4c | type |
Everyone Has Standards | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b4a6ae4c | comment |
Everyone Has Standards: While Ana has nothing but contempt for the institution that Harold represents, she comes to recognize that Harold himself is not a bad person and doesn't deserve the hell that she put him through. Her attempt to make this up to him kickstarts what would eventually become their relationship. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_b4a6ae4c | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b4a6ae4c | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b53077b3 | type |
Take That! | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b53077b3 | comment |
Take That!: In-universe. The reason Harold is able to find Karen Eiffel is because she had been audited ten years prior, which is also around the time she started writing a book about an IRS agent who would inevitably die. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b53077b3 | featureApplicability |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_b53077b3 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b53077b3 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b9c5e44e | type |
Sweet Baker | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b9c5e44e | comment |
Sweet Baker: Double Subverted. When Harold is sent to audit Ana's bakery, she is rude and deliberately standoffish to him because he's an IRS agent and she's a hippie who donates baked goods to the homeless and refuses to pay the exact percentage of her taxes that would have gone to fund "national defense, corporate loan-outs, and campaign discretionary funds'' (27%, to be exact). But Ana eventually regrets her treatment of Harold and begins to warm up to him, even giving him cookies as a form of apology for how she treated him earlier. Harold sees the kind and caring side of Ana, and the two fall in love. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_b9c5e44e | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_b9c5e44e | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_c58e6eb4 | type |
No Inner Fourth Wall | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_c58e6eb4 | comment |
No Inner Fourth Wall: There is no fourth wall between the author and her protagonist, but the fourth wall between them and the audience of the movie is very much intact. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_c58e6eb4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_c58e6eb4 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_c58e6eb4 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ca3a6dbd | type |
Informed Ability | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ca3a6dbd | comment |
Informed Ability: Karen's writing ability. We only see (and hear) snippets of it—both Harold and Hilbert think the full manuscript is a brilliant masterpiece, but we only see quick snatches as they read through it, and only hear her narrate when it applies to Harold in her story. (It's rather brilliantly subverted by the ending, though, since we are never shown the full "masterpiece"; Hilbert says that Karen's revised ending leaves the whole story as merely good rather than genius.) | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ca3a6dbd | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ca3a6dbd | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ca3a6dbd | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cc28f3bf | type |
Not That Kind of Doctor | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cc28f3bf | comment |
Not That Kind of Doctor: The voices Harold is hearing are about him, not to him, placing it out of the field of Psychology and into the field of Literature, as noted by a psychologist in the film. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cc28f3bf | featureApplicability |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_cc28f3bf | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cc28f3bf | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cda501da | type |
Killed Off for Real | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cda501da | comment |
Killed Off for Real: As it turns out, Karen was about to do this to Harold by writing her novel. Once she realizes this, she wonders if this was the same fate that befell all her other protagonists. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_cda501da | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_cda501da | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d3f8ad06 | type |
Close on Title | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d3f8ad06 | comment |
Close on Title: The film's title is only displayed before the ending credits begin scrolling. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d3f8ad06 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d3f8ad06 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d3f8ad06 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d48bde6d | type |
Mouth Cam | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d48bde6d | comment |
Mouth Cam: When Harold Crick brushes his teeth in the beginning. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d48bde6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d48bde6d | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d48bde6d | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d4efe0d | type |
Character Narrator | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d4efe0d | comment |
Character Narrator: Karen Eiffel narrates Harold's life, but she's also a character herself in his life. Both of them are initially unaware of this fact, Eiffel especially because she, as the writer writing the very scene, doesn't realize it is her that Harold is calling on the phone. Until his apartment is wrecked, it is never established if he was being controlled by Eiffel's writing or if she was just narrating what he was doing at the time. | |
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1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d4efe0d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_d4efe0d | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_da1c8191 | type |
Writers Cannot Do Math | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_da1c8191 | comment |
In the context of the book Karen is writing about Harold, it's a straight example of Writers Cannot Do Math. In the larger frame of the movie the fact that Harold is better at math than Karen casts some early doubt on the whole "fictional character vs. real author" relationship. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_da1c8191 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_da1c8191 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_dcbe8a6e | type |
Chekhov's Gunman | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_dcbe8a6e | comment |
Chekhov's Gunman: You know that kid with the bike and the job-hunting woman that show up unexplained in the beginning of the movie? Unsurprisingly, they're important. In fact, their multiple appearances suggest that Eiffel is trying to figure out how to make them fit this trope. They may even be the other protagonists, central to the book but not to the movie. In fact, the interview where Harold identifies his narrator has her describing her upcoming book as being about, among other things, "interconnectivity". | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_dcbe8a6e | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_dcbe8a6e | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e0aed924 | type |
No Antagonist | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e0aed924 | comment |
No Antagonist: Harold is simply dealing with the narration of his life and the fact that he's going to die soon. Karen is just working through writer's block, and has no idea that she's affecting Harold's life. Even when they meet, their relationship isn't antagonistic; Karen has massive doubts over killing Harold, but can't think of another way to end the story. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_e0aed924 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e0aed924 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e1ec301 | type |
Cover Drop | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e1ec301 | comment |
Cover Drop: The disc image is a green apple which helps inspire Eiffel's ending. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e1ec301 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e1ec301 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e1ec301 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3847ee8 | type |
Cigarette of Anxiety | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3847ee8 | comment |
Cigarette of Anxiety: Karen Eiffel has a particularly affecting scene after she might have killed Harold Crick where she tries to anxiously light a cigarette before smashing it apart with both of her palms upon her desk. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3847ee8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3847ee8 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3847ee8 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3f7524b | type |
Dice Roll Death | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3f7524b | comment |
Dice Roll Death: That Harold's death is foretold in the narration as being caused by a "seemingly innocuous act" implies this, compounding the frustration that he doesn't know what to do to avoid it. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3f7524b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3f7524b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e3f7524b | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e40f6792 | type |
Design Student's Orgasm | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e40f6792 | comment |
Design Student's Orgasm: More of an auditor's orgasm. Harold's number-obsessed view of the world shows up as hovering numbers and graphs that expand out of the objects he's analyzing. He is, however, particular as to what it is he measures out, and seems to be upset when someone implies he counted something he didn't. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_e40f6792 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_e40f6792 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ed3dc201 | type |
Addiction Displacement | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ed3dc201 | comment |
Addiction Displacement: At the end, Karen Eiffel's assistant Penny gets her the patch to replace her cigarettes, but it's left unclear whether Karen will give up her addiction or not. Although Karen has begun to show signs of an aversion to smoking after she realizes the repercussions of finishing her story. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction / int_ed3dc201 | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_ed3dc201 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f2a6d76d | type |
Rage Against the Author | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f2a6d76d | comment |
Rage Against the Author. "No, I'm raging against YOU, you stupid voice! So just shut up and leave me alone!" | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f2a6d76d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f2a6d76d | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f2a6d76d | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f6f6adeb | type |
Railroading | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f6f6adeb | comment |
Railroading: When Harold Crick tries staying at home all day, doing nothing, in order to prevent the plot from moving forward, a wrecking crew tears a hole in his apartment wall. | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f6f6adeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f6f6adeb | featureConfidence |
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Stranger Than Fiction | hasFeature |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f6f6adeb | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f8b3d078 | type |
True Art Is Angsty | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f8b3d078 | comment |
True Art Is Angsty: Invoked by Karen, who believes this and that's why she writes all her novels to end with the protagonist's tragic death just before they accomplish something great. Also gives us the final punchline of the movie. Karen changes the story at the last moment so Harold survives getting run over and gets a pretty happy ending out of it. Upon reading it, Professor Hilbert deems the ending of the book just okay. | |
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What Is One Man's Life In Comparison? | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_f9018976 | comment |
What Is One Man's Life In Comparison?: The idea is batted about that maybe the possible contribution to world literature and the greater meaning of his planned death mean that Harold should accept his death as it was written. Hilbert's speech about the original ending comes off as pretty damn cold concerning his implied utter disregard for Harold's life. | |
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Theme Naming | |
Stranger Than Fiction / int_fd94c4ac | comment |
Theme Naming: Every person in the movie is named for a mathematician, scientist, or engineer (Harold Crick, Ana Pascal, Karen Eiffel, Penny Escher, Jules Hilbert, and so on). Likewise the streets (Kronecker, Euclid). And Eiffel's publisher. Just about everything named, actually. | |
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Stranger Than Fiction |
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