Review of The Words (2009) by Manny C — 18 Mar 2013

Bradley Cooper is a struggling writer who finds an unsigned manuscript to an unpublished novel in a used briefcase and decides to have it published as his own. His wife (Zoe Saldana) thinks he's finally written his masterpiece while his agent thinks success is just a heartbeat away.

As for the man who actually wrote it (Jeremy Irons, slumming), he knows truth can't be hidden and contained so easily. The title of the book in question is Window's Tears, and it's a wonder this dull as shit movie can't even acknowledge that mediocre title.

There are lies, there's inevitable fame and of course betrayal, all the hallmarks of a pretty good pulp drama, but The Words is stilted. There's no kick to script or the direction from writer-director collaborators Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal.

The fact that Cooper's story is introduced as a narrated tale from Dennis Quiad, playing another author, only adds to the irritating mess that is this movie. Cooper turns in an earnest but uninteresting performance, a far cry from his nuanced and emotionally-charged triumph in last year's Silver Linings Playbook.

There are almost no words to describe how terrible The Words is.