{"id":16640,"date":"2022-09-14T18:20:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T22:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=16640"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:06:53","slug":"stranger-than-fiction-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=16640","title":{"rendered":"Stranger Than Fiction-2000"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stranger Than Fiction-2000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Eric Bross<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Mackenzie Astin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,298<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed September 14, 2022<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

An interesting note about Stranger Than Fiction (2000) is that it stars director Todd Field in a dual-acting role.<\/p>\n

The director is not a household name, at least not yet, but is known for directing two gems: In the Bedroom (2001) and Little Children (2006). Rewarded with Oscar nominations for both, he acts too.<\/p>\n

This is not a setup for a joke that he should not act and should stick to directing, since he does a decent job acting.<\/p>\n

The irony is that he doesn’t direct the featured film, Stranger Than Fiction; Eric Bross does.<\/p>\n

The film has its share of intrigue, which carries through until the end when the plot gets messy and ridiculous. I mean, messy and ridiculous.<\/p>\n

I’m all for twists and turns in a good film, but sometimes a speeding train can derail, and that’s what ultimately happens with Stranger Than Fiction.<\/p>\n

But for most of the running time, it’s solid entertainment, black humor, and thrills.<\/p>\n

I was immediately interested in the story when an author named Donovan Miller, with hours to kill at an airport bar because of a delayed flight, told a curious patron the story of his novel, Stranger Than Fiction.<\/p>\n

As I drifted into the world of Salt Lake City, where the book’s events take place, I anticipated juicy drama.<\/p>\n

An interesting bit of advice is to pay very close attention to this first bar scene.<\/p>\n

Four twenty-something friends, Jared (Mackenzie Astin), Austin (Todd Field), Emma (Dina Meyer), and Violet (Natasha Gregson Wagner) meet for drinks at the local bar. They pull a prank on Violet’s boss for fun and call it a night.<\/p>\n

Later, Jared shows up at Austin’s place injured and covered in blood, declares he’s gay, and spews a strange story about a dead guy in his apartment. The foursome investigates, and things get interesting.<\/p>\n

The cinematography has a muted, dull style that feels like an independent film but also looks amateurish and made-for-television.<\/p>\n

Even though it was made in 1999, it feels quite 1980s to me.<\/p>\n

Unclear whether this style was used or if the budget was just low. I love independent filming, but this didn’t do Stranger Than Fiction any favors.<\/p>\n

None of the characters are fascinating, and the writers, Tim Garrick and Scott Russell, unsuccessfully try to give the camaraderie among the four principals a sitcom feel. The constant bantering and bickering are getting tiring.<\/p>\n

It feels like NBC’s Will and Grace meets Friends.<\/p>\n

Where Stranger Than Fiction excels is in its twists, which make me forgive the other mistakes and the forced chemistry between the actors. I salivated for the next plot reveal and couldn’t wait to see how the events would unfold.<\/p>\n

Once the friends agreed and made the foolish decision to dispose of the dead guy instead of calling the police, I knew I was in for hijinks or a caper.<\/p>\n

As the gang gets deeper and deeper into shit like hitting a homeless guy with their car, parking illegally, and getting their car towed, more characters are introduced and threaten their plans.<\/p>\n

This is all well and good until things spiral out of control with a dizzying explanation of events that involve blackmail, suicide, backstabbing, and jealousy.<\/p>\n

Since the author is describing a fictional novel, this might have been okay until it’s revealed that the events actually occurred.<\/p>\n

By that time, I didn’t care anymore.<\/p>\n

Nice effort for a while by Stranger Than Fiction (2000), and fans of black comedy should take notice. With a strong premise and mostly good buildup, the follow-through failed, leaving me bewildered rather than completely satisfied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stranger Than Fiction-2000 Director Eric Bross Starring Mackenzie Astin Scott’s Review #1,298 Reviewed September 14, 2022 Grade: B+ An interesting note about Stranger Than Fiction (2000) is that it stars director Todd Field in a dual-acting role. The director is not a household name, at least not yet, but is known for directing two gems: … Continue reading Stranger Than Fiction-2000<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,49,179,204],"tags":[11800,11798,9505,11799,11673,1901],"class_list":["post-16640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2000-films","category-comedies","category-darkcomedies","category-thrillers","tag-dina-meyer","tag-eric-bross","tag-frances-bay","tag-mackenzie-astin","tag-natasha-gregson-wagner","tag-todd-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16640"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23609,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16640\/revisions\/23609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}