The Words

This film is about a young struggling writer who makes it big with a manuscript that he did not write.

"The Words" tells the tale of a struggling writer who has to face moral choices after stealing a manuscript. Bradley Cooper carries the role well, and he portrays the internal struggle very well. It is a welcomed change that Bradley Cooper portrays a serious and emotionally tormented role. The scene of his attempt to rectify things in the greenhouse is haunting. Zoe Saldana shines as well as the supportive wife, her plethora of emotions is so natural and convincing. They make a good on screen couple. The Bradley Cooper subplot is quite predictable, but the connection between Bradley Cooper and Dennis Quaid is not immediately apparent. This extra layer gives "The Words" more depth. I think "The Words" has many fine performances, and deserves to be seen.

The Words draws you in with its beautiful cinematography and engaged dialog. I was especially impressed with the layers of the presentation. Most films these days will spoon feed you a flat story and leave no room for personal interpretation. The Words layers a complex open-ended plot that demands viewer involvement. I was surprised with the simple surface story presented as each deeper layer was uncovered. Sometimes it came as a subtle hint when other times it hits you straight in the face. The film has the flavor of Memento or Inception; which is refreshing these days. Bradley Cooper surpassed my expectations. I never once saw his type-cast Hangover/Limitless ticks or mannerisms. He was completely in touch with the character and never fell back on default techniques.

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.

This movie's a clever and entertaining yarn that gets to bear close scrutiny. There's a compelling performance by Jeremy Irons as a fictional writer and a good one(though not excellent) by Bradley Coooper. As in a lot of Hollywood movies set in the world of letters, the connection to the real world of authors and publishers feels weak however, as regards the subject of plagiarism, the movie is portentously effective in handling themes like theft, identity, fiction and reality. One of the many questions it conjures is whether the screenplay is a deliberate attempt to illustrate Clay's mediocrity. The storytelling itself is more interesting than the plot and the finale leaves a little to be desired but on the whole it works.

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.