There is an old saying that “A picture is
worth a thousand words.” Well what if they were someone else’s words? That is
the question “The Words” tries to answer. Rory (Bradley Cooper) wants to be a
writer in the worst way. He lives the life of a writer with his wife Dora (Zoe
Saldana), with no job and tries to write stories every night. The only problem
is no one enjoys his stories. He is turned down by every publishing house and
even takes a job at one to deliver the mail, just to try and make contacts.
Everything changes after he finds a manuscript in an old bag Dora gives
him. The story moves him and he decides
to retype it on his computer just so he can feel the words come out of him. The
next morning Dora reads the story and tells Rory she always knew he had that
story inside of him. The problem is the story is not his, but instead of
disappointing Dora, he passes the writing as his own. The lie continues and the
book is published and becomes an instant classic.
The story wouldn’t matter if it ended
there, instead it does get a little more interesting. When The Old Man (Jeremy
Irons) enters the picture as the story’s true author. Rory knows the truth and tries
to come clean only to find it’s not that easy to take back. The film has hints of 2004’s “Secret Window”
only without the crazy Johnny Depp and creepy John Turturro.
All
throughout the film it’s hard to determine what story could be true and which
one is a work of fiction. “The Words” is a very heavy and ominous story.
Written by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, who also co-direct the film, together
they craft a tale about how sometimes it is hard to tell apart great fiction
and even greater truth. There are often many silent points in the film that
makes you wonder if the filmmakers wanted you to really focus and think about
what was happening on the screen. Although not a great movie, it will open up
conversation on what you would do if you had found that manuscript. This is one
of those movies that lean towards the middle of the road, although it’s not
great, it isn’t horrible either, and for some people that may be just enough.
Brian Taylor
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