Review of Words and Pictures (2014) by Matt C — 10 Jun 2014

I had no expectations for this because I only knew of the basic premise and saw the trailer once about two months ago. I mostly went to pass time, which it did well. I can't say that it's good, but it is kind of fun and charming.

The actors and upbeat direction keep the movie from ever flat-out falling over, but the script does have its fair share of issues. Admittedly, the premise is petty to begin with and kind of ludicrous, but the performances make up for that for the most part.

However, the script is really awkwardly constructed at times, mostly because there are subplots that develop but don't give any sort of satisfaction, and the movie ends up drifting a lot. It is really predictable and even the title hints at how characters will feel at the end of the movie.

The first two thirds are very well-paced, but the last third begins to drag a tiny bit because there's a good amount of extraneous content. It's almost two hours, where it could have been about 95 minutes.

If there is a silver lining to some of those random subplots, it's that we get to see the students, which are nice, particularly the main female student. She's nice to watch. The movie is good-natured but instantaneously forgettable, and still a little bit better than one would expect.

6.3/10, okay, one thumb (barely) down, average, etc.