Words and Pictures

I almost opted out of seeing Words and Pictures but I'm very happy that I saw it. The movie is about a high school English teacher who was once an acclaimed publisher but lost his creativity because he thinks it's not appreciated by his students and drowns his sorrows in alcohol. He is played by Clive Owen who performed brilliantly. He intersects with a new world renowned Art teacher played by Juliette Binoche who is struggling to maintain her ability to create due to a debilitating medical condition which physically prevented her from painting with fine strokes. Juliette Binoche transforms amazingly and performs well. I didn't even recognize her as the actress that played Vianne in Chocolat which I loved her in and Hana the nurse in The English Patient. In their dual over their passions of words and pictures, they end up challenging each other and their students and movie goers alike to appreciate and desire to create beauty using words and art. After watching Belle and a slew of other movies set around Victorian Era England, I noted that our conversational language has become so simple when there are so many beautiful words available to us. This movie echoes that sentiment. I expected Words and Pictures to be an overly artsy romantic love story but it was balanced. There are two things I didn't like about this movie. The first is that we aren't given the back story of the main characters. The characters even acknowledge they don't know a lot about each other but they are satisfied with it and I guess movie goers were supposed to be OK with it as well. The second is that besides reciting other people's words, Clive Owen's character doesn't say much of his own words that conveys his whole premise about words. I kept waiting for this great prose from him, but never got it. Overall the movie is entertaining and inspiring and I recommend you go see it.

There's great magic in Words and Pictures. And that magic comes from the sheer joy of watching a real human story so eloquently played out before our eyes. In a time when we are bombarded by CGI laden, tent pole films crafted by marketing firms rather than great storytellers, it is refreshing to find a summer film that focuses on character and the human condition. I loved this film and the emotional journey it takes us on. Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche are both at the top of their game in this film, giving us layered performances that are humorous, touching and yes… I'll use the word again… human. The greatest strength of this film is it's screenplay with it's honest look at relationships. The relationship between words and pictures becomes the vehicle by which we dive into all the emotional relationships. These are flawed and delicate characters making their way through the minefield of life. Fathers and sons, lovers, coworkers, mentors and mentees. All of the relationships play out so beautifully and honestly on screen. From our wonderful leads to even the smallest of supporting characters, not an emotive moment is wasted. Thank God there are films where great writing is still revered and producers, directors and actors who take a chance with those words and bring them to the screen in glorious moving pictures. Don't miss this one!

It's a rare film that manages to be tedious and fascinating at the same time, but that's precisely what happens with the clumsily-named and executed Words And Pictures. The film's central conceit is right there in its title: a battle for supremacy unfolds between an English teacher (words) and his new colleague, who schools students in the fine arts (pictures). It shouldn't work at all, especially when the relationship moves predictably into romantic territory. But it's tough to completely dismiss the film when its awkward screenplay also features two intriguing central characters, played with subtle, almost miraculous depth by Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche.

English teacher Jack Marcus (Owen) is on the brink of academic implosion: his job is on the line, he's barely making it to his classes on time, and he's drinking a little too much for anyone's comfort. But, just as things are looking really bleak, his downward trajectory is briefly interrupted by the arrival of Dina Delsanto (Binoche), a revered artist who's losing her ability to make art as her body is increasingly ravaged by the aches and pains of rheumatoid arthritis. She values imagery and art; he treasures words and literature - their clash fires up their students' imaginations, even as they bicker and spar their way into an evident mutual attraction.

There's no denying that the film rests on an awkward foundation: the script keeps returning to the ridiculous dichotomy it establishes between words and pictures, pitting Marcus against Delsanto in a competition that makes very little sense. It's all tied up with a subplot involving shy arts student Emily (Valerie Tian), whose ability to come out of her shell to be the artist she can be is all wrapped up with issues of sexual harassment and public humiliation. Frankly, it's just not very good.

What is very good about the film is its two central characters, and the spiky, difficult and joyfully equal relationship that springs up between them. There's so much depth, sadness and maturity layered into Marcus and Delsanto that it's absolutely fascinating just to watch them in action, together and apart. Both characters have rough edges that aren't sanded away, and the odd fireworks between them work precisely because both their lives have stalled: Marcus is a charming mess who lost himself somewhere along the way; Delsanto is a brilliant artist who can no longer express herself the way she wants to. Somehow, they wind up inspiring each other to do better and be better - and, instead of feeling horribly mawkish, it works.

That's due in no small part to the excellent work done by the two lead actors. Owen sinks thoroughly into the part of Marcus, dialling up the charm and the horror of his character in equal measure. The film doesn't soften or romanticise Marcus and his problems, which gives Owen plenty of great character stuff to do. Binoche, too, has ample room to uncover the sad, yearning soul of a whip-smart, independent woman whose illness has stolen not just her art but also a little of her dignity.

Ultimately, the fantastic and fascinating interplay between the two actors and characters are pretty much worth the price of admission. They're surrounded by an odd, awkward beast of a movie, built on a very shaky foundation. But their brave, deep performances and bittersweet chemistry come very close to making Words And Pictures worth a lot more than it really is.

At a posh New England secondary school, with an ocean setting, English teacher Jack (Clive Owen) is in the midst of a middle age crisis. Only, he doesn't know it. Not yet. Others have observed that he drinks too much and is often a few minutes late to class, with poor lesson planning. To his credit, Jack is extremely dedicated and bright, making the most of his classes and connecting well with students. But, he is headed for trouble. That is, until a new art teacher, Dina (Juliette Binoche) arrives at the academy, cane in hand, for she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Needless to say, Jack rubs her the wrong way almost instantly, although it is quite clear that Dina can give tit for tat. After a discussion in her art honors class, students tell Jack that Dina thinks words are far less important and meaningful than pictures. Ho ho, Jack pounces on this pronto. Now, he tells his pupils, this is war and lays out a strong defense of the power of words by reading many meaningful passages of literature. An ultimate challenge of the two dueling forms of communication may lie ahead. In the meantime, Jack is told he is going to be "reviewed" by the board of directors and may be let go. He also is having difficulties with his college age son. Happily, Dina may be showing some romantic interest in Jack. What lies ahead in the battle of words and pictures? This wonderful and poignant movie is most welcome in this age of flicks aimed at young adult males. It offers a romance between middle aged characters and has an alluring, finely written script. Owen and Binoche are pitch perfect in their roles while the supporting cast of Bruce Davison, Amy Brenneman, and well-selected teenage actors are charming, too. The coastal setting is absolutely lovely while costumes, photography, and a worthy direction by Fred Schepisi bring terrific results. Please go support this movie, true-blue film fans. Unless you do, Hollywood won't offer this kind of movie very often.

A very entertaining movie but a rather simple and predictable story! Director Fred Schepisi and writer Gerald Di Pego have included - and very cleverly so - two conflicting characters that come to cross purposes and these same two characters must deal not only with the other but also with their personal internal demons.

Here is a story about a clash that involves passion and intellect. Clive Owen as Jack Marcus 'English teacher' is very passionate about the written word and it's effect on the human mind and soul. Juliette Binoche as Dina Delsanto 'Art teacher' is equally passionate about the fine arts and it's effect on the human mind and soul. And so an unofficial challenge develops between these two teachers - which has the greater influence on people - 'words or pictures'. Both teachers compete to be the winner but both teachers must overcome their internal conflicts at the same time. Jack is an alcoholic and Dina suffers advanced rheumatoid arthritis. The fight is on both externally, with the help of the students, and the fight within themselves which accentuates the teachers individual aloneness in this world.

In my opinion Director Schepisi blew his chance to make a truly profound story by not expanding on the one pivotal moment in the story. That moment is when Jack falls onto the still wet painting Dina considered her greatest work! Here is the moment where words and pictures become one! No one can describe a picture and it's effect without words and words can only be comprehended by seeing in ones mind pictures which has an effect on the soul.

Instead the director turns the story into a therapy session for a rather insecure girl and Jack finally deciding to seek help for his alcohol addiction. In the end all is sunshine and springtime which ruined the movie for me. Had Dina been a more insightful artist she would have taken advantage of the 'damage' to her painting by working with it. And Jack would have written a poem or something about the how damaging ourselves also damages others around us. Thus words and pictures are but one.