The Words Movie Review

Posted by Charmaine Blake on Sep 7th, 2012 in Drama, Featured Articles, Mystery, New Releases, Suspense | 0 comments

The Words Movie Review

The Words starring Bradley Coooper, Dennis Quaid and Zoe Saldana is out in theatres today, September 7th 2012. In The Words, movie fans will be able to witness the struggle of a writer who wants to make a name for himself. How in a blink of an eye he went from rags to riches because of a stolen manuscript that he claimed as his own. The verdict is in for this new movie! Let’s take a look at a movie review provided to us by Christine N. Ziemba:

“Analyzing and Breaking Down This Faustian Dilemma In the Movie: The Words

The Faustian dilemma of putting ambition above all else is a familiar motif—from Goethe’s classic to the legend that bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for success. The Words, written and directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, updates the story for a 21st century audience more familiar with formerNew York Times journalist Jayson Blair and disgraced Oprah’s Book Club author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces).

Described as both a romantic drama and a thriller, the film doesn’t quite live up to the billing— despite a premise rife with promise and a star-studded cast. The Words is hampered, ironically, by a weak script that uses not-so-subtle references to Ernest Hemingway’s life to hammer home clichés about writers and the craft of writing.

The multilayered, intertwining narrative—a book within a book wrapped in another story—is intrinsically connected by the plagiarism of Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper). When we’re first introduced to the character, he’s the subject of a reading/lecture from famed writer Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid). Rory’s a struggling writer who’s taken two years off from real life to grind out the great American novel. He and girlfriend Dora (Zoe Saldana) don’t have a lot of money, but they’re madly in love. (Their situation can’t be that dire, since they’re living in a ridiculously spacious—we’re guessing rent-controlled—New York City walkup.)

During the next few months, we watch as Rory agonizes over pages, submits his book to agents, starts a “real job” in the mailroom of a publishing house, gets married and travels to Paris on his honeymoon. It’s in Paris—the City of Light and the Lost Generation—that Dora buys her husband a vintage leather briefcase as a wedding present. While wallowing in his own novel’s rejections, he finds an old manuscript hidden inside the satchel. In reading the brilliant work of an unknown author, Rory is hit by the “reality of what he would never become.” Cooper does a good job at portraying a writer who faces the limitations of his talents, a realization that ultimately leads to stealing the work and passing it off as his own. The book becomes a critical and mainstream success; and while he feels guilty about the plagiarism, Rory’s too enamored with adulation and recognition to stop the momentum.

Jeremy Irons plays the Old Man (yes, that’s the character’s name) who confronts Rory in Central Park. It’s his book—his life—that Rory has claimed as his own. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn the manuscript’s origins and its subsequent loss.”

To read the rest of the review go to Paste Magazine by clicking here

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Charmaine Blake loves movies, musical theater listening to music and taking pictures of anything that she finds interesting. She is a voracious reader and writer, and enjoys her time writing for New Movie Launches. Charmaine loves spending time with her pets and currently has a Siberian Husky, a toy poodle and a cat.