The Words

Two of the biggest main selling points in seeing any film are a great concept and a great cast. 'The Words' has both, have not come across a concept this ambitious and intriguing for any film in a long time and when you have a cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid and Jeremy Irons one cannot help expect great things. It sounds like a treat if you are somebody who loves literature, am very much one of those people.

Watching 'The Words', it was an interesting film, well made and mostly well acted with intriguing and heartfelt moments. Part of me felt though that it could and should have been much more, worth watching definitely but very uneven. It is not a waste of potential, as there are things that are done very well and a lot of effort went into it. It is sadly unfortunate that the full potential is nowhere near close to being full lived up to, which is so frustrating and a real shame.

Beginning with the strengths, 'The Words' is a very good-looking film, the photography making for some truly beautiful images and Paris especially of the locations is strikingly captured. The music matches the film's understated tone with a subtle, melancholic edge without tugging at the heart strings too much. Some of the dialogue is truly thought-provoking, with some inspired references, especially that of the Old Man's.

Although the story-within-a-story-within-a-story structure doesn't completely come together, a lot of the inner story elements intrigue and move. The Old Man's, one of the more interesting characters of the film too, past scenes make for the most engrossing story and the one that had my attention the whole time. The acting mostly very good, the acting honours going to Jeremy Irons in a very touching and suitably enigmatic performance as The Old Man. Ben Barnes touches the heart too, while Bradley Cooper tones down the intensity that can be seen in other performances of his and the subtlety is effective. Zoe Saldana is much more than just decoration, there is not a lot to her role but she makes the most of it and does it with charm.

Sadly, 'The Words' is dragged down badly by the "real life" story, to the extent that it nearly but not completely ruins the film. It was very tedious, with more questions than answers, nothing investable and an aimless pace. The romance is full of cheesy dialogue and doesn't really go anywhere, the chemistry more unintentionally creepy than charming. Found Dennis Quaid's performance too underplayed to the point of phoning in and Olivia Wilde's performance and character were just bizarre.

Letting 'The Words' down significantly too was the ending, which was little more than an incomplete damp-squib. Ambiguity can work, but this attempt at it felt less like ambiguity, this actually felt like an ending started being written, then the writer got distracted and completely forgot about concluding it. Despite the whole literary concept, the film tends to over-explain or things are spoken when they could easily have been shown. A lot of effort went into 'The Words', but it did feel like it tried too hard.

In conclusion, interesting and has a fair share of good things, such as the production values, most of the acting and one particular story strand, but very frustrating with one story and the ending spoiling things badly. 6/10

The Words opens with author Clay Hammond (Denis Quaid) giving a reading for his recent best-selling book, The Words. Hammond's reading takes us into the life of his character, Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper), a young author struggling to publish his books make ends meet.

One night, Jansen discovers an old manuscript hidden in an antique briefcase that his wife Dora (Zoe Saldana) purchased for him on their honeymoon in Paris. He reads the yellowed first-draft of the novel, marveling at the unknown author's talent.

Jansen struggles with what he should do with the masterpiece he's found. Eventually, he decides to type the entire novel on his laptop so he can "feel the words flow" through his own fingers.

When his wife sees the novel on his computer, she—in typical Hollywood fashion—assumes he wrote it and praises him for his depth and creativity before he has a chance to tell her the truth.

From here, the film skips back and forth between the fictional Rory and Dora Jansen, and the story of their creator, Clay Hammond.

Rory publishes the manuscript under his own name and struggles with the repercussions, while in "real life," Hammond flirts with a young college student named Daniella (Olivia Wilde) at his sophisticated book reading. Despite the film's fluctuating story lines, The Words' plot is addictively intriguing and surprisingly easy to follow. My family doesn't often sit down to watch a movie without a magazine or iPad in hand, but this movie kept us all riveted.

It's also worth noting that we had our eyes glued to the screen in the absence of explosions, sex scenes, or significant amounts of humor. The film's mysterious and captivating plot line—along with simple but genuine characters—were enough to hold our attention.

The story expands when the true author of Jansen's novel (Jeremy Irons, the "Old Man") approaches Jansen and reveals his heart-wrenching account of the loss of his manuscript and family. His tale transports us to Paris during World War II, adding another captivating plot line to the already multi-layered story.

In addition to an elevated storyline, the Old Man's account in the movie adds a deeper visual element to the film. A relatively low-budget, low-key film, The Words clearly made the most of its production site in Montreal, Canada. Shots of present-day New York and 1940s Paris are both believable and idealistic, effortlessly transporting viewers from modern day to war time.

As Bradley Cooper's character becomes a liar of extraordinary proportions, I still found myself rooting for him throughout the film. Jansen's shortcomings raise many stimulating questions about truth and integrity, while his struggle for achievement and creativity makes him highly relatable (especially as a writer).

While the movie held my interest the majority of the time, I felt much less invested in the real-life storyline of author Clay Hammond's and student Daniella. The only thing that kept me interested in the seedy, wealthy author and his adoring fan was the question of how they tied in to Rory Jansen's story.

And that is, perhaps, the great mystery of the film—why does Rory Jansen matter to Clay Hammond, and vice versa?

The pursuit of an answer to this question, along with stimulating questions of integrity and consequence are what make The Words a must-see movie for anyone who desires meaningful conversation at the end of a film. It makes us question our motives and beliefs, and it gives a sympathetic face to the "struggling artist" stigma. Considering I'd never heard of the movie until I rented it, I'd say it's highly underrated.

Absent of cheesy one liners, cgi explosions and presumably never ending car chases it was not surprising to see the lack of respect this movie has received. It is telling of our culture to pass by a story, full of such raw, human, emotion, with dis-contempt and frailty.

'The Words' is a movie about life, mistakes and the pain we can all feel inside, and it is this ability to relate that makes it so powerful. It gives me hope, along with a select other few, that cinematic story telling has not simply been reduced to the next ex-cia to shoot up the town, or romantic comedy with the same stale happily ever after ending.

It is real, and comes with the all of the uncertainty and heartbreak of life.

The Words is an engaging film, and almost feels more like a book on screen. And like a good book, it quickly reins you in and keeps entertaining until the end. The writer/director team of Brian Klugman & Lee Sternthal is miles away from their script for the forgettable Tron: Legacy. With The Words they take their time by using their catchy story within a story technique to develop their intriguing characters. The Words may not have the heft compared to other favorites for Best Original Screenplay come this Oscar season, but it is respectable feat for the writer/director duo. Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Limitless) delivers a nice subtle performance as a struggling writer drowning in a sea of desperation. Cooper continues to hack out diverse performances that continue to show his range and win over more fans. He's proving that he is not just Hollywood's latest flavor of the week. The rest of the cast is strong, and headlined by Jeremy Irons (The Man in the Iron Mask, Being Julia) as a broken down old man surprised to see his long lost book on the best-seller list with some young punk's name attached. The Words was dumped into theaters on what is historically known as the worst weekend for movie attendance, and most likely won't garner much of an audience. The film will also have trouble living up to the competition come Oscar season, but it delivers an entertaining and appealing film on the first weekend of fall award season releases.

The Words is a story within a story within a story. I absolutely loved the story within the story. A masterful telling of an intriguing situation with wonderful acting and believable emotions that, at both levels, tugged at my heart strings. However, the third level added very little, or should I say distracted from the rest. It was meant to put a twist on the story within the story, to make the viewer think and wonder, but it was mostly a distraction, and the acting was far inferior to the other two levels. The producers should have seen this but instead, they took something great and made it good. Another reviewer said somewhere that negative reviews were from people who "didn't get it". That's pretty conceited by them to think that they were the only ones who got it. Trust me, I got it, I just didn't like it. All that being said, it was still worth watching, if only for the two inner layers.