Stranger than Fiction

Watched the movie "Stranger Than Fiction" last night with my wife. While I love Will Ferrell, I was even more excited about this movie because I was ready to see some range in his acting. It's a fantastic movie with a great cast (Emma Thompson is hilarious, Dustin Hoffman is wonderful), but something struck me at the end of this movie.

First of all if you intend to see the movie, stop reading because I'm going to share the ending and sharing the ending to this movie would ruin it. Plain and simple ruin it. So Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS agent who begins hearing a voice narrating his life. It turns out the voice is that of an author who is writing a story about Harold Crick, an IRS agent. As Ferrell goes through his life, he learns that a simple thing like changing the time on his watch would "lead to his immanent death." The movie then is about Ferrell trying to live his life knowing the end is near, as well as discovering that the author is about to kill off the character, thus killing Harold. The movie leads up to Harold knowing his fate and choosing to go through with the end of the story he knows. He ends up saving the life of a child he doesn't know because he's willing to die for the child.

Now, first of all let me state that I hate looking for the "Christ character" in art. There is not a Christ character in every piece of art. It also diminishes Christ, I believe to go looking for him in everything. Yet I do believe many things reflect (dimly) Christ, as Harold does. He is willing to die for a young boy he doesn't know, thus making his life (and death) worth living.

I find myself thinking about this, reminded of the words Dustin Hoffman's character gives to Harold: "We're all moving to the same ending. You could die in a car accident, die in your sleep. But this will make your life a masterpiece." I realize that for me, the question is am I living in such a way that I'm realizing I'm going to die. When I think about that, my perspective changes. There are things that become less important and things that become immanently more important. Now an iPod seems trivial while typing with my son on my lap seems a little more fun. Sitting with someone who waits for their loved one to get out of surgery seems light years more valuable than sitting and watching Locke get shot on "Lost." Living knowing I'm going to die means spending more time on the important and less on the selfish. I pray that I can remember that tomorrow.