Word Wars (2004)

just watch it!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

A look at the obsessive world of competitive Scrabble.The interesting thing is that Scrabble is actually a game of math and not of words -- although it appears to be about vocabulary, to win you have to understand how to score. Sure, there is definitely an advantage to knowing how to rearrange letters in your head to make words, but you never actually have to know what any of the words mean -- just whether or not they are valid.One of the players (Marlon) is the least like the others, and has some interesting comments about the English language (and language in general). To add to his mystique, one scene appears to show him being involved in prostitution (though it is somewhat ambiguous).Another guy (Joe) is like a cross between Woody Allen, Larry David and a Buddhist monk... which is more neurotic and less entertaining than you might think.

This movie was inspired by Stefan Fatsis' book Word Freak. I read the book last year and really liked it, so I was looking forward to seeing the movie, which is peopled by some of the same characters. But even if you haven't read the book, the movie is still quite enjoyable. It begins several months before a National Scrabble tournament, and follows four competitors as they go through their trials and tribulations leading up to it. The filmmakers had fun with anagramming throughout the movie, and did a very good job with letting the competitors speak for themselves. Like the book, the filmmakers visit the various sites the game is played, from living rooms to a park in New York to various competitions around the country. If you enjoy playing Scrabble with friends, then you will definitely like this movie, which takes the game to a completely new level.

I saw this film during the 2nd Annual Independent Film Festival in Cambridge, MA. I like documentaries and enjoyed this one very much. This film was a great representation of the cliche' "truth is stranger than fiction." The characters were very funny - not realizing how funny they actually are (which for me makes it even funnier). I'm amazed at how far some people will go to maintain their passion for Scrabble. I thought the film was put together well and was amused by certain scenes. One where 2 players say they are not friends, wouldn't consider each other friends, but room together and in one scene you see one shaving the back of the other's neck. It was those scenes of contradiction that worked well. I would add this film to my Indie collection.

As a former tournament Scrabble player, this documentary was a delight to see. (I know and have played all four of the main subjects of the film.) People in that scene, especially at the top, are really that eccentric -- it's part of the allure of the tournament circuit, playing against people who are incredibly devoted to study and strategic analysis. The film accurately captures both the heart of the competitors as well as the frenetic energy that develops around trying to be the best. The documentary is informative beyond this one particular topic, in that way.As far as documentaries go, it's clearly a second-tier documentary film. (It's not a "Capturing the Friedmans", a "Fog of War", a "Startup.com".) However, if you have an interest in seeing mad geniuses at work or the game of Scrabble taken to an extreme, I recommend this film highly. (8+ out of 10)