This is the newest movie to be added to my mental list of personal favorites.

Everyone in the cast—Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, Dustin Hoffman, Tony Hale—was fantastic. The story is weird and funny but sweet and haunting at the same time.

Geeks will like it for a couple of reasons. The first is obvious from the very opening moments of the film. Harold Crick (Ferrell), an IRS auditor who is a math geek, is so obsessive that he counts his steps and toothbrush strokes, mentally overlays geometries on everyday objects, and sees tables and regulations dancing around his head as he does his work. I think most geeks—computer, math, or otherwise—can relate to this (including myself and a number of visual-effects geeks who were interviewed in the extras).

The second is very subtle; my wife first noticed it, and the more we dug into it, the more obvious it became. There is an overarching theme of self-reference and self-similarity, which relates not just to the idea of a story folding in on itself (like a snake eating its tail), but also to a very interesting area of mathematics—and Harold Crick is a math geek! My wife realized that two character names, Eiffel and Escher, were after famous people (an architect and an artist) whose works had self-similarity figuring prominently in them. As I looked at other characters, more names jumped out—Hilbert and Pascal, both mathematicians, both of whom made contributions in the mathematics of self-similarity. After some digging, I discovered that Cayley (“Cayly” in the film), Mittag-Leffler, and even Crick were also names of mathematicians. Very interesting. Wikipedia’s article about the movie has more about this, including another mathematician’s name, Kronecker (the name of the bus route Harold takes to work every morning!).

So any geek should definitely see this movie, but I think even non-geeks will enjoy it (maybe writers and bakers in particular).

This was fabulously well done. Will Ferrel is incredible, and Dustin Hoffman his incomparable self. The story is really interesting and really well handled – so nice to see real character development in a Hollywood film for a change.

The only sour notes for me were … why Emma Thompson? I love Emma Thompson, but this really didn’t seem like her role. My husband and I couldn’t decide who else we’d cast, so I guess we shouldn’t judge. But this just wasn’t played to her subtle strengths.

And the darned epilogue… oh well.

Pretty fabulous overall!

I am NOT really a Will Ferrell fan for the most part. He occasionally hits on a role that works with him perfectly and when he does he’s worth watching (the evil fashion designer Mugato in ZOOLANDER, for instance..) but for the most part he plays the same type of one-dimensional, forced, juvenile comic lead I expect of most SNL alumni movies post-Eddie Murphy.

Until now.

Everything everyone who praises this is saying is correct. It really IS a wonderful, life affirming movie with nicely understated humor. It’s funny but doesn’t beat you over the head with its jokes. It’s warm and moving but without deliberately yanking on your heartstrings. And if you watch this movie and DON’T really think about whether you’re living your life or just existing, then I really feel sorry for the state of your soul.

Hopefully Ferrell can play more roles like this in the future..

i believe no one else but will ferrell could have played harold krick. it was a perfect match.

i’d heard this was good, and i still loved it so much more than i thought i would.

I needed something like this, at right this moment. What a great film! (I’m also a total romantic at heart, that accounts for a big reason I loved it so much.)

This movie far surpassed my expectations. It was fabulous and unexpectedly included a unique use of a graphic design “GUI” as its CGI. If you don’t like Will Ferrell, don’t let that keep you away. He does a shockingly good job and I don’t normally like him. Check out Jayme’s review on All Consuming for more info.

I rented this because I was very intrigued by the plot of the story, not to mention a cast that included Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhal. I thoroughly enjoyed the humorously subdued Will Ferrell, who did an excellent job playing a character who ironically enough was supposed to be devoid of humor. It was funny and touching at the same time. Moreover, there seemed a real chemistry between Will Ferrell’s character and that of Maggie Gyllenhal, whose spunky and believable portrayal of a bohemian like baker immediately and easily assumes a romantic opposite of Will Ferrell. It actually made Will Ferrell’s character very desirable as well. Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompsons character’s were also charming and pleasantly represented. Furthermore, the film itself was shot with very pleasant angles and colors that changed with its main character. It was on a whole, very enjoyable.

I need to buy a new watch.

everyone in this movie is adorable.