When I saw the trailer for The Words, it definitely sparked my interest. I wasn't all that excited about the cast, however. The stars—Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid, and Zoe Saldana—are not exactly my favorite actors. But this dramatic film surprised me in more ways than one.
The story is basically a story within a story—kind of like Inception. The main plot line follows Rory Jansen, a young man struggling to find himself as a writer—that is, until he finds a story he didn't write and gets it published. That story comes from an older man who was stationed in Paris during WWII. And who's telling the story about what happened to Rory when he meets the old man he stole the story from? None other than Dennis Quaid, who is also portrayed as a writer in the film.
I will say that I thought Rory's struggle to find himself as a writer was portrayed pretty well through the screen writing and by Cooper's acting. There's something very relatable about a person not knowing if he is who he wants to be. I could relate to his struggle as a writer, being a wanna-be writer myself, but I thought there was something more universal to the theme—don't we all get lost sometimes? I'm sure there's a time in everyone's life where we all lose sight of who we are, or who we want to be. This is a major theme presented in The Words, which is a big part of why I could relate to the film.
I applaud the makeup artist for Rory's character. There's a particular scene in which Rory was up in the middle of the night trying to write. Rory looked more like a person who might have been sitting next to me in the theater and less like an actor—you could see his pimples and his reddening eyes. It wasn't like in other scenes, or other films, in which the actor has flawless skin and a seemingly perfect complexion. I think Rory's lack of makeup during this scene made him seem more life-like. And I think the fact that he looked like the average human while he was writing symbolized that the only time Rory was truly himself was when he was writing, when he was at home with the words—which, I think, is a huge part of this film.
The ending, without giving anything away, is very ambiguous, to say the least. In my opinion, I do think this kind of story calls for an ending like this, no matter how annoying it may be to some viewers.
As previously mentioned, I'm not a huge fan of the stars in this film. But their performances in The Words proved to me that they can act. Since I'm so used to seeing Bradley Cooper in comedy films, I was skeptical as to whether or not he could pull off the part of a serious writer. But he did, and he did it well. I was also impressed with Dennis Quaid's performance as Clay. In my writing classes, I've always been told, "Show, don't tell." I think, perhaps, some films call for the same kind of acting. Toward the end of the film, Quaid expresses great struggle through his acting. The viewer can tell what he's wrestling with—and not because he told us in dialogue, but because he showed us with his facial expressions and emotions.
I must mention Ben Barnes who played the role of the young version of the old man. I don't think Barnes is a very well-known actor (yet), but I can see him emerging as the next Joseph Gordon Levitt (the British version) if he gets a few more major films under his belt. I thought his emotional expression was very raw and unhinged. Barnes can really let loose if he needs to, and I think that's what his role called for at times. All that to say, I was very impressed with this actor whom I haven't seen much of before.
There are TONS of Hemingway references in this film. And this probably just comes down to personal taste, but I couldn't stand it. I strongly dislike Hemingway so I cringed any time I saw something in this film that had anything to do with the man.
The old man who Rory stole the story from was unnamed! I just recently read a young adult novel in which the narrator was unnamed. This frustrates me. If a character is vital to the story, I want to know his or her name! There's a character named Daniella in the film whom I strongly disliked—not just because of her personality but because her character was very stagnant. I felt like the only point to her character was to draw out the plot line from another character—Clay, who narrated part of the story. And yes, the plot line is obviously important, but I felt like the writers could have done something more with Daniella's character so that it wouldn't feel like she was awkward and useless.
I would recommend The Words to anyone who wants to be a writer—there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this film. Also, if you're a fan of multiple story lines in one film—kind of like Inception—you would probably enjoy The Words.
The story is basically a story within a story—kind of like Inception. The main plot line follows Rory Jansen, a young man struggling to find himself as a writer—that is, until he finds a story he didn't write and gets it published. That story comes from an older man who was stationed in Paris during WWII. And who's telling the story about what happened to Rory when he meets the old man he stole the story from? None other than Dennis Quaid, who is also portrayed as a writer in the film.
I will say that I thought Rory's struggle to find himself as a writer was portrayed pretty well through the screen writing and by Cooper's acting. There's something very relatable about a person not knowing if he is who he wants to be. I could relate to his struggle as a writer, being a wanna-be writer myself, but I thought there was something more universal to the theme—don't we all get lost sometimes? I'm sure there's a time in everyone's life where we all lose sight of who we are, or who we want to be. This is a major theme presented in The Words, which is a big part of why I could relate to the film.
I applaud the makeup artist for Rory's character. There's a particular scene in which Rory was up in the middle of the night trying to write. Rory looked more like a person who might have been sitting next to me in the theater and less like an actor—you could see his pimples and his reddening eyes. It wasn't like in other scenes, or other films, in which the actor has flawless skin and a seemingly perfect complexion. I think Rory's lack of makeup during this scene made him seem more life-like. And I think the fact that he looked like the average human while he was writing symbolized that the only time Rory was truly himself was when he was writing, when he was at home with the words—which, I think, is a huge part of this film.
The ending, without giving anything away, is very ambiguous, to say the least. In my opinion, I do think this kind of story calls for an ending like this, no matter how annoying it may be to some viewers.
As previously mentioned, I'm not a huge fan of the stars in this film. But their performances in The Words proved to me that they can act. Since I'm so used to seeing Bradley Cooper in comedy films, I was skeptical as to whether or not he could pull off the part of a serious writer. But he did, and he did it well. I was also impressed with Dennis Quaid's performance as Clay. In my writing classes, I've always been told, "Show, don't tell." I think, perhaps, some films call for the same kind of acting. Toward the end of the film, Quaid expresses great struggle through his acting. The viewer can tell what he's wrestling with—and not because he told us in dialogue, but because he showed us with his facial expressions and emotions.
I must mention Ben Barnes who played the role of the young version of the old man. I don't think Barnes is a very well-known actor (yet), but I can see him emerging as the next Joseph Gordon Levitt (the British version) if he gets a few more major films under his belt. I thought his emotional expression was very raw and unhinged. Barnes can really let loose if he needs to, and I think that's what his role called for at times. All that to say, I was very impressed with this actor whom I haven't seen much of before.
There are TONS of Hemingway references in this film. And this probably just comes down to personal taste, but I couldn't stand it. I strongly dislike Hemingway so I cringed any time I saw something in this film that had anything to do with the man.
The old man who Rory stole the story from was unnamed! I just recently read a young adult novel in which the narrator was unnamed. This frustrates me. If a character is vital to the story, I want to know his or her name! There's a character named Daniella in the film whom I strongly disliked—not just because of her personality but because her character was very stagnant. I felt like the only point to her character was to draw out the plot line from another character—Clay, who narrated part of the story. And yes, the plot line is obviously important, but I felt like the writers could have done something more with Daniella's character so that it wouldn't feel like she was awkward and useless.
I would recommend The Words to anyone who wants to be a writer—there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this film. Also, if you're a fan of multiple story lines in one film—kind of like Inception—you would probably enjoy The Words.