The Words (2012)

A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man's work.

Directors:

Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal

Writers:

Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Quaid	...	Clay Hammond
John Hannah	...	Richard Ford
Jeremy Irons	...	The Old Man
Bradley Cooper	...	Rory Jansen
Zoe Saldana	...	Dora Jansen
Vito DeFilippo	...	New York Apartment Doorman
Michael McKean	...	Nelson Wylie
Lucinda Davis	...	Vendor
J.K. Simmons	...	Mr. Jansen
Olivia Wilde	...	Daniella
James Babson	...	Dan Zuckerman
Kevin Desfosses	...	Rory's Assistant
Ron Rifkin	...	Timothy Epstein
Brian Klugman	...	Jason Rosen
Liz Stauber	...	Camy Rosen (as Elizabeth Stauber)

Storyline

Layered romantic drama The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.

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Plot Keywords:

writer | novel | book | father son relationship | two word title | 

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Taglines:

There's more than one way to take a life.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 September 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Palavras

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,750,894 (USA) (7 September 2012)

Gross:

$11,434,867 (USA) (28 September 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Also Known As Pictures, Benaroya Pictures, Animus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Rory find and reads the Old Man's manuscript, the first page shown on-screen is actually an excerpt from Ernest Hemingway's memoir, "A Moveable Feast", discussing one of his early short stories called "Up in Michigan". Nearly all of Hemingway's other early works were lost because the suitcase his wife had packed them in was stolen from a train in Paris when she left in unattended for a few minutes; the Old Man's story clearly parallels this event.

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Goofs

The second hand on Rory's watch stops at 40 seconds and does not move when he is drunk in the apartment.

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Quotes

The Old Man: We all make our choices in life, the hard thing to do is live with them.

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Connections

Featured in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2012 (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Harry Hops"
Written by Cory Wong (ASCAP)
Performed by Martin Capitol
Courtesy of Music Dealers

User Reviews

The Words...3 out of 4 Skittles

The Words is an engaging film, and almost feels more like a book on screen. And like a good book, it quickly reins you in and keeps entertaining until the end. The writer/director team of Brian Klugman & Lee Sternthal is miles away from their script for the forgettable Tron: Legacy. With The Words they take their time by using their catchy story within a story technique to develop their intriguing characters. The Words may not have the heft compared to other favorites for Best Original Screenplay come this Oscar season, but it is respectable feat for the writer/director duo. Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Limitless) delivers a nice subtle performance as a struggling writer drowning in a sea of desperation. Cooper continues to hack out diverse performances that continue to show his range and win over more fans. He's proving that he is not just Hollywood's latest flavor of the week. The rest of the cast is strong, and headlined by Jeremy Irons (The Man in the Iron Mask, Being Julia) as a broken down old man surprised to see his long lost book on the best-seller list with some young punk's name attached. The Words was dumped into theaters on what is historically known as the worst weekend for movie attendance, and most likely won't garner much of an audience. The film will also have trouble living up to the competition come Oscar season, but it delivers an entertaining and appealing film on the first weekend of fall award season releases.