Review of Word Wars (2004) by Giffy G — 22 Jun 2008

Normal Guy 50-Words-Or-Less Plot: Documentary directed by Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo about the competitive playing of Scrabble. It features four of the game's highest ranking players and their quest for the winning prize of $25,000 at the 2002 National Championship in San Diego.

This is the second film about words I have seen in the last few months. "Word Wars" had my attention right.

From the start.

The film follows four word nerds (all males) through the angst and preparation for the national championship tourney in San Diego in August 2002. You get to see these men in action as they.

Make it through smaller tourneys to get to San Diego. They are obsessed. One thing I want to let you know right now. If foul language is a problem for you, it's in abundance in this film. There is also some time given to drug use. The film says at the beginning "this is not your grandmother's Scrabble". The directors werenâ??t kidding.

We meet Matt Graham; 30-ish guy who likes ratty clothing and sometimes works as a stand-up comic. He also likes gambling on his Scrabble games. Joel Sherman is the nerdiest of all of them and he has an acid reflux problem. Joe Edley, Scrabble player extraordinaire and the reigning national champion, uses tai chi.

To focus himself on the game. Finally, there's Marlon Hill, a black guy with dreads from Baltimore. He's a study in contrast. He has a huge Scrabble vocabulary but he swears like a sailor and he smokes pot.

These guys are smart, quirky, strange and competitive. They exude tons of angst and insecurity as the.

Nationals approach. They spout strange worldviews and are completely devoted to the game. Itâ??s their reason for being. I didnâ??t like any of them.

Thereâ??s not a lot of time spent on actual game play. We see highlights and final scores but most of the emphasis was placed on the men, their jitters and tournament despair. The other theme addressed is their chronic under-employment because they must devote over half their day to Scrabble practice and play.

This film lacks the suspense of another film I saw and reviewed; â??Word Playâ??. But the observation of these guys and their religious devotion to this game was enough to keep me involved. If you like documentaries and especially ones about words and language, youâ??ll.

Like this film. Remember, however, â??This is not your grandmotherâ??s Scrabbleâ??.