Review of A Thousand Words (2012) by Panta O — 24 Jul 2012

A story about Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) - very capable literary agent who uses his gift of the gab to get various book deals! Sometimes he stretches the truth to get them. He's trying to get a book deal from a New Age self-help guru named Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis), but something unusual happens when he does: a tree magically appears in his backyard, with a thousand leaves. Dr. Sinja goes to Jack's house and they both discover that for every word that Jack says, a leaf will fall off of the tree... they assume that when the tree runs out of leaves, the tree will die, along with Jack.

Jack who used to talk a lot is now forced to pick and choose his words, and communicating with others becomes full of misunderstandings. These misunderstandings cost him a lot... but there is way to fix all the wrong things!

This movie was originally shot in 2008, but was repeatedly delayed after being caught up in the separation of DreamWorks Pictures from Paramount Pictures and Viacom. Reshoots were done on the film early in 2011 and the release date was 9 March 2012. But after the release it has been universally panned by critics. It has a lukewarm story with a message which is not bad but no passion in it! And viewers could feel it! I still didn't mind watching it - mainly for the very secure acting, good camera work and exceptional photography.

I know that on this site all reviews from the critics are negative, but I dare to give this movie a pass... just for the sake of the well done work of the whole team - even when there is no passion in it!