The Words (2012)
The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.
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Tied for the best movie I have ever seen
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
A film that shows the power of a good story above all else. Converting that to the screen is another story, and although I love the story and the production, I thought some of the actors overpowered the cast (the old man shines above the other actors, and is great. In fact so good, it's worth watching for his work alone. Lop sided talent on the acting side, but such a great story, and film worth watching. B.K.
Loved it!!! Other than Olivia Wilde (miscast, I suppose, since I loved her in other movies), everyone acted beautifully, especially Ben Barnes, who brought his character to life, whose emotions need not be expressed in words but on his face. Without giving away the plot, there were enough twists to keep story interesting. Can't help but ponder these questions when end credits rolled. Don't listen to the naysayers. If you love to write, or are aspiring to, you've got to see this movie.If only I could write like that... better hit the typewriter, I mean, the computer.
I may sound shallow for not wanting to dive into it and create my own meaning, but I hate the "leave it to the audience's interpretation" element. It took my rating from a 9, or even possibly a 10, to what it is. I hate this element in general because when I care for the characters, I don't want a maybe ending, I want a yes/no. I was SO drawn in and felt completely abandoned at the end. This movie drew me in for 90% of the time but there is NOTHING worse (when it comes to movies) than a bad, disappointing, soggy ending.The movie's attempt at being complex is lost in the end, which wrapped the three layers of the plot so poorly. I felt as though all the emotion I had just felt was in vain because of the possibility of it not even being real, which is implied by Clay's comment on the fine line between fiction and reality. Yes, I know it's a movie and that it's not really real but I wanted it to be real for Rory... or Clay... or whoever.I must, however, compliment the acting in this film. Bradley Cooper, whose work I am not familiar with, absolutely amazed me with his skill; there's a moment where his character, Rory, is drunk-crying and it seemed so... raw. Zoe Saldana was great too and the pair had beautiful chemistry.Nevertheless, I wish I could take back the time I spent watching this film because I don't know what to do with it. I don't know what to do with how Clay/ Rory (?) ended up. I'm frustrated.
¡¡¡Spoilers!!!First of all, this film deserves a huge amount of credit just making a film for adults as there are precious few of those today.The concept of a writer taking credit for the work of another artist is well-covered territory. This isn't to say that it is too tired to be done again and this story certainly has its share of original twists.I thought the protagonist was way too whiny about his lack of success as a writer, like being a literary superstar was his entitlement. It didn't speak much about him the fact that he didn't set the world on fire with his first book was enough to break him. And from whiny little sissy he is getting chauffeured limo rides? As a writer? After one book? Unlikely at best. He finds a manuscript and he doesn't change a word? It just seems that if he had any talent he could have stole the story and made it his own. Publishing it as he found it would have just been stupid. How would he ever know that it wasn't published somewhere? After he gets rich and famous he gets even whinier.In the end I just got the feeling that the two writers don't read enough and watch too many movies. The film lacks any sort of verisimilitude; it's like a reflection of another movie of the same theme. Corny is a word that comes quickly to mind when you see the scenes of the love affair in Paris. A word that doesn't come to mind is realistic, nor anything close to that. It just looks like a Paris created on a Hollywood lot, a Paris created by people who may have been to Paris but haven't read enough or thought enough about it to have anything original to add. A thing that you learn from watching too many movies is that dead babies are sad. Once again, super corny.Absolutely everything about the part in France was just dreadful and difficult to watch for me. He throws a temper tantrum and ruins his own flat? What sort of moron would do that? Once again, they just took the Hollywood way of showing anger. Think again. "The words simply poured out of him." Think again. After the loss why in the hell didn't he just rewrite it? How hard could that have been if he wrote it in two weeks? I think the two writers were just so mesmerized with their concept that they didn't bother much with the execution. "We all make our choices; the hard part is living with them." Another dud of a line in a movie that is supposed to be about great writing. I think they stole this one from something their half-senile aunt posted on Facebook under a picture of a cat hanging from a branch.The ending was the worst part by far.