Review of A Thousand Words (2012) by Peter D — 21 Oct 2013

Comedy starring Eddie Murphy as Jack McCall, a hyperactive and somewhat unscrupulous literary agent with a life dilemma: a strange tree has suddenly appeared in his back garden and it loses a leave for every word he says. Fearing that once it loses all the leaves he will die, he tries to save all his words for important stuff, however he has got a difficult deal to break at work and his wife is unhappy for his apparent lack of commitment. The fact that he hardly says anything creates funny situations as it further worsens his problems. In his quest to save the tree he receives the help of his stressed assistant and an Indian religious guru.

While it is humorous and entertaining, this film is too similar to Jim Carey's "Liar, liar", the premise and development is almost the same. Plus some scenes are somewhat forced and the laughable plot has several contradictions. Basically the bulk of the film relies in the comedy skills of the lead actor; the rest is dull and easily forgettable. If you are fan of Murphy you are going to like it as he is at his best, it is just there isn't enough in the movie to make it memorable, plus it is terribly predictable.