Harold Crick, single, lonely IRS agent, hears the voice of author Karen Eiffel narrating his life as it happens to him. If he screams at the sky for the voice to stop, he simply hears the implacable voice of Emma Thompson describing her character screaming at the sky in frustration. The cinematic device of having a character hear his life narrated in the third person omniscient allows Crick to examine his own life as another person might see it. This casts a harsh light on his existence that acts as a catalyst for Crick to reinvent himself. Just as novels follow the arc of a character, by seeing his own existence in literary terms, Crick is forced put his life on a new trajectory. The critical question, he discovers with the help of a literary professor (played by Dustin Hoffman), is whether his life is going to be a comedy or a tragedy.
When he meets Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a cute and rebellious baker (whom he’s auditing), he’s instantly smitten and she is naturally antagonistic toward him because of his professional duty to check her taxes. This smacks of comedy, but when he flubs his chances to court her, things seem to trend dangerously toward tragedy. The movie has a deft and understated tone even as it builds towards questions of life and death. Director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball) allows his actors to shine without interference from gimmickry in a movie that is built on a gimmick. The screenplay is by Zach Helm in his first cinematic production, and he too keeps the movie about the characters and not the gimmick. How Crick is hearing his life narrated by Eiffel is immaterial, and the movie wisely doesn’t concern itself with that. The essence of the story is in the characters of Crick and Eiffel and how they get to know themselves in a way they never could before.
I liked this movie a lot - and I think you’ve caught the reasons - it’s about the people and it’s about examination and growth, all the way to the end, which is satisfying on a lot of levels.