Rated PG-13 for language, adult content and some thematic material

By Patrick Sessoms
BEACON COLUMNIST

posted Sep 14, 2012 - 4:53:03pm

There’s an inherent risk that comes with making movies about writers, especially purportedly great writers. More often than not, these films prove to be too ambitious for their own good and spend more time trying to convince the audience of the writer's Earth-shattering brilliance than attempting to tell a story.

The Words is a prime example of this sort of failure. Not only does it seem to think it’s a much more intelligent work than it really is, but also it grasps at attempted insight while only managing to regurgitate tired universal truths hidden in an absurdly complex (and mind-numbingly boring) story.

The film is about a writer telling the story of a writer who steals another man’s novel. Bradley Cooper plays an aspiring writer who happens upon a briefcase with an unpublished manuscript hidden inside. Desperate to prove his worth to the world, he plagiarizes it and becomes the toast of the New York literary scene. That’s when the original writer, a curmudgeonly old man (played by curmudgeonly actor extraordinaire Jeremy Irons), confronts him. Wait for the twist, though: The whole thing turns out to be a story written by Dennis Quaid, who is reading excerpts from his newest novel at its premier.

The Words uses the worst possible gimmick in the world, but tries in vain to hit universal truths. It attempts to create sympathy for the characters by appealing to the “I could have been a contender” mentality that plagues so many people facing a midlife crisis. In fact, there are no great truths anywhere to be found in the film, and it’s nowhere near as clever as it aspires to be. Writer/directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal have their hearts in the right place with the overall idea behind the story, but the execution is sloppy and borders on actually becoming insulting. It just seems ironic that a film about great writing is so weak in its own script.

Aside of that, the film isn’t that bad. It’s filled with sentimental drivel, but that actors do their best to hide that fact. Of course, it’s easier for some of them: Poor Dennis Quaid is stuck narrating a good portion of the film, and no matter how great the actor, there’s only so much that can be done with The Words given. Everyone else is pleasant enough, though no one is able to elevate the movie to the level it wants so desperately to achieve.

Despite gallant efforts by everyone involved, The Words comes off as a juvenile attempt at greatness, an attempt at a great American novel that seems more on par with the trash sold in airport kiosks. And on top of that, it’s just so incredibly boring that it’s hard to take it seriously at all. It’s a small-minded film that is uninspired and, more importantly, uninspiring. Its only saving grace is the incredible cast it gathered. Needless to say, your time would be better spent at home catching up on a good book.

Stars & Popcorn grade: 2 stars, 1 popcorn

— Born and raised in the sunshine state, Patrick grew up loving movies. He’s currently attending the University of Central Florida and is a Cinema Studies major. Along with being the president of Stars and Popcorn, he’s a player in the independent comics scene.

Sponsored by Liebe Entertainment Group, Marketplace 8. Click here to see showtimes for The Words

Visit Stars and Popcorn at www.starsandpopcorn.com

— info@beacononlinenews.com

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