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Critics Consensus: Neither as clever nor as interesting as it appears to think it is, The Words maroons its talented stars in an overly complex, dramatically inert literary thriller that's ultimately a poor substitute for a good book.
Critic Consensus: Neither as clever nor as interesting as it appears to think it is, The Words maroons its talented stars in an overly complex, dramatically inert literary thriller that's ultimately a poor substitute for a good book.
All Critics (123) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (93) | DVD (3)
A mostly middling drama.
The story-within-a-story-within-a-story is so slight and inconsequential, like the tiniest of a set of Russian nesting dolls, that we may be forgiven for letting our minds wander toward bedtime and tomorrow's errands.
The premise is ambitious -- if not a little hokey -- but the meager themes of ephemeral authorship and constructed realities aren't exactly revelatory.
Bradley Cooper's funniest movie since "The Hangover" - unfortunately, unintentionally this time ...
This film's layered storytelling lacks the fluidity, grace, or good humour, to pull off its conceit.
Romanticized claptrap.
The Words aspires to cover much more thematic and emotional ground than most films attempt to do. It is occasionally successful, occasionally not, but it certainly gets us thinking, even when it's being contrary.
This isn't the thriller that some marketing materials have made it out to be. But it does contain mysteries you should have the pleasure of puzzling out yourself.
Registers as a mandatory Intro to Playwriting assignment, as supervised by Nicholas Sparks.
Jeremy Irons is brilliant and brings some much-needed humanity to an unsubstantial script.
The Words wants desperately to convey that sense of being lost in the printed page. But what you see of the prose in the found manuscript makes Fifty Shades of Grey look like Finnegans Wake.
"The Words" is an elegant piece of entertainment, replete with an understated but sweeping score, unexpected period piece vignettes, and melodramatic but universal themes.
There is virtually nothing that works in this convoluted, nonsensical and terribly-written drama in which not even the visuals escape the artificial and clichéd, and so everything is a complete failure, from the expository narration to the ridiculous story-within-a-story-within-a-story structure.
Super Reviewer
The ability to write should be first among the qualifications required to write a movie about a writer... but all through this film, all I could think was, "No one involved with this film has ever written anything!" And the attempt to lean on narration - it's like the book you're reading! - falls completely flat, as it's never quite clear who is supposed to be narrating, or (of course) who would read a book were it this badly written. I'd recommend You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger well before this one, which has a similar plot but comes from Woody Allen, who may have written a thing or two before the present movie. I really like the premise, and the talented cast does its best with this disastrous script, but unfortunately The Words is much more about the idea of being a writer than it is a believable story of anything a writer might think/want/do.
People didn't like this much. Why?..because of the story, inside of a story, and partly inside another story? or because of the ending that left you wondering what was really true? I found this movie mesmerizing. There isn't one bad actor in this, that is for sure. The story was heartbreaking, and intriguing. It was beautifully done, and left me with a feeling of awe. Usually, endings like this one make me really mad. For some reason, this ending seemed to fit the movie...
The Words story within a story within a story structure takes away any dramatic impact the film might have had. The performances are actually pretty good, especially Jeremy Irons and Bradley Cooper, but the script tries to be more complex and interesting than it needs to be. The story holds your attention from the beginning, but the more things are revealed the less interesting the story becomes by the end of it. Olivia Wilde's character could have been cut entirely because it is just a poor character with no motivations at all. The Words has some interesting points to make, including living with the choices we make and how no one can help you live with those choices except yourself, where writers draw the line between fiction and real life, and how hard it is to get a book published in these harsh economic times. All these interesting points are drowned out by a poor ending, though. The script just tries a little too hard to cram too many plot elements into an otherwise very interesting, engaging, and well acted story for the first 3/4 of the film. I'm torn because The Words really kept me engaged and wondering what was going to happen next, like any good thriller can, but botches it trying to get to the end. I can't quite recommend it, but it is certainly an interesting misfire.
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