I.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to hi... Read allI.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.I.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 15 nominations
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- Writer
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile filming, Will Ferrell wore an earpiece that fed him Dame Emma Thompson's narrative lines, in order to assist the other cast members in reacting more naturally to Ferrell's seemingly non-sequitur lines.
- GoofsNear the beginning, Ms. Eifel dictates "When asked by a co-worker for the product of 67 and 453, Harold drew a blank. He quickly answered 30,351 despite the answer really being 31,305." The product of 67 and 453 actually is 30,351. This was meant to get viewers to question who was dictating Harold's life, the narrator or Harold himself. It wouldn't be a coincidence that the "incorrect" number given by Harold would in fact be the correct answer.
- Quotes
Professor Jules Hilbert: No, why did you change the book?
Kay Eiffel: Lots of reasons. I realized I just couldn't do it.
Professor Jules Hilbert: Because he's real?
Kay Eiffel: Because it's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die and then dies. But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway, dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, then... I mean, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?
- Crazy creditsDuring the end credits, the names of the characters and the actors who played them were displayed against stylized images of the places where the characters worked.
- SoundtracksThe Way We Get By
Written by Britt Daniel
Performed by Spoon
Courtesy of Merge Records
By arrangement with Bank Robber Music
Forster, with his keen eye and eclectic visual sense, populates the film the sharp and contrasting visual angles, camera tricks, and in-frame oddities (like the play with numbers) constantly keeping the viewer engaged and on their toes. Fun supporting turns from Dustin Hoffman as a literary theorist employed by Krick to help find out if the story he is in is a comedy or tragedy, and Queen Latifah as Eiffel's no-nonsense publishing assistant help guide the viewers through imaginative stretches that are occasionally too clever by half. Ferrel gets to show some nice range here, and much like Robin Williams did with "The World According to Garp" and Jim Carrey did with "The Truman Show," graduates with honors into more high-minded quasi-serious roles. His co-lead Thompson is subtly method and well studied as the reclusive sociopathic author who just can't help killing her characters.
What really seals the deal is Maggie Gyllenhal as Farrell's love interest, the anti-establishment baker he is assigned to audit. She literally lights up the screen. There's one expertly framed and perfectly lit shot of her standing outside her townhouse inviting Farrel in for the night where the light from street lamp off screen is filtered in through the shadows of tree branches and hits her face in such a way that in that brief flickering frame you become insanely happy to be watching such a pleasant marriage of literary concepts inside a visual medium. At this point you don't care how the film ends. You're just grateful to experience that giddy moment of pure movie entertainment.
- WriterDave
- Nov 18, 2006
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Killing Harold Crick
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $40,660,952
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,411,093
- Nov 12, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $53,653,224
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1