Wordplay (2006)
95 %
Reviews Counted: 115 Fresh: 109 Rotten:6 Average Rating: 7.4/10
Consensus:
You see them hunched over with their brows furrowed, folded newspaper in hand as they attempt to complete the crossword puzzle. This may even describe you. This ingeniously edited documentary introduces viewers to some of the more dedicated fans of this solitary pastime, none more well-known the puzzle editor for the New York Times, Will Shortz. This underground world provides a surprising amount of crowd-pleasing entertainment and suspense, especially at the annual crossword tournament. Didn't know there was one, did you?
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Theatrical Release: Jun 16, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $2,857,745
Synopsis: Inky-fingered New York Times readers love the mind-bending crossword puzzles lovingly curated for the paper by longstanding contributor Will Shortz. There are few things more satisfying than completing one of Shortz's puzzles, and a cult has sprung up around the enigmatic crossword... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Starring: Mike Mussina, Will Shortz, Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, Ken Burns
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Reviews
Similar in structure to the recent movie Spellbound, Wordplay is a fun documentary about an American institution and national habit.
Comment
06/08/08
This movie is done so well that even if you're like me and don't do crossword puzzles, you'll still be entertained.
12/30/06
Director Patrick Creadon has turned crossword puzzling into a spectator sport.
11/30/06
Boy, was I wrong. There's more palm-sweating suspense in one minute of this baby than in all of The Omen.
11/24/06
Top Critic
Where Wordplay wins is not so much in the contest footage, but in its interviews with average, everyday crossword puzzle junkies.
11/12/06
Intriguing, surprising and stimulating, Wordplay is much more than a documentary about a crossword tournament. Anyone who is remotely interested in the English language will be fascinated
11/10/06
Wordplay gave me new respect for the intelligence of those who solve them well, and admiration for those who create them.
11/06/06
Click to read the article
10/27/06
Their world of puzzles is like an alternate universe and this film offers a window into it.
10/24/06
As pleasant and good-natured as Wordplay is, it's not exactly potent stuff
10/14/06
Even though these puzzles are mapped out with utmost precision -- and even though logic is an extremely useful tool for solving them -- they're still, somehow, objects of intrigue and mystery.
10/07/06
Top Critic
isn't the nail-biter that the 2003 spelling-bee documentary 'Spellbound' was (but) Creadon and editor Doug Blush successfully build suspense and find unexpected drama and comedy in the competition.
08/18/06
So there's this new documentary about crossword puzzles . . . WAIT, get back here!
07/20/06
Cleverly devised and creatively made in ways that ought to make its subject accessible to anyone.
07/19/06
It's a movie about crosswords, as seen through [puzzlers'] eyes, and it makes us one of them as we learn how to do crosswords by their side.
07/19/06
I have to admit that for me these self-proclaimed nerds are more interesting and impressive than anything that I have ever seen in a NFL documentary.
07/18/06
A fun documentary about those who make puzzles and those who do them.
07/15/06
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