Real-life 'Fiction' of an IRS agent

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Will Ferrell is a funny man.

In fact, he might be too funny.

Moviegoers at a preview of the actor's latest film, "Stranger Than Fiction," couldn't stop laughing at Mr. Ferrell — even as his character, Harold Crick, faced a poignant fate.

Harold's a quiet man, with no interests beyond an obsession with numbers. He's an Internal Revenue Service agent with no friends besides a fellow auditor.

"Harold lived a life of solitude," we hear from an unseen narrator.

The problem is, Harold begins to hear her, too.

He's not too concerned — until the voice mentions his "imminent death."

A freaked-out Harold visits a shrink (Linda Hunt in a perfect deadpan cameo) and explains his problem. Someone is describing the events of his life: "Accurately. And with a better vocabulary."

"What you're describing is schizophrenia," the psych tells him.

Harold avoids being committed and instead is referred to literature professor Jules Hilbert (a blase Dustin Hoffman). Jules tries to figure out what book Harold might be in. "Do you feel an urge to solve murder mysteries at luxurious houses to which you've been invited?" he asks, wondering if it's an Agatha Christie novel.