Review of The Words (2012) by Hoops2448 — 01 Sep 2013

Panned by critics, I didn't hold out much hope for The Words, a three generation story filled with nuanced characters and some truly great dialogue that brings out a wonderfully creative story that may make you cringe from time to time but mainly it will make you ponder how moral you really think you are.

When an acclaimed author Clay (Dennis Quaid) is introduced to Daniella (Olivia Wilde), a young woman who wants to hear his latest story about a down on his luck writer Rory Bradley Cooper) who steals an old man (Jeremy Irons) story and must deal with the consequences, Daniella and Clay must decide what lives they want to live and who they want to be moving forward.

An in depth look into love and obsession but most of all the power of admiration and the lengths we will take to give and receive it. The Words is understandably obsessed with paying tribute to the power of the written word and the great words that come from writers with something to say and maybe that's why the script by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal is so good as every story has a personality while they play into each other.

The performances are mostly great except for the constantly awful Zoe Saldana as Rory's irritating partner. The standouts are Quiad and Irons as two haunted men, one wrapped up in his own guilt and success, the other mourning the life he once had and failed to find again.

It's a complex story that is filled with emotion, some overplayed but most of it hitting the mark making for a wonderful, if not a little upsetting movie that really gets to the centre of peoples wants and desires as it tells us its alright to dream of becoming more.