Two of the biggest main selling points in seeing any film are a great concept and a great cast. 'The Words' has both, have not come across a concept this ambitious and intriguing for any film in a long time and when you have a cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid and Jeremy Irons one cannot help expect great things. It sounds like a treat if you are somebody who loves literature, am very much one of those people.
Watching 'The Words', it was an interesting film, well made and mostly well acted with intriguing and heartfelt moments. Part of me felt though that it could and should have been much more, worth watching definitely but very uneven. It is not a waste of potential, as there are things that are done very well and a lot of effort went into it. It is sadly unfortunate that the full potential is nowhere near close to being full lived up to, which is so frustrating and a real shame.
Beginning with the strengths, 'The Words' is a very good-looking film, the photography making for some truly beautiful images and Paris especially of the locations is strikingly captured. The music matches the film's understated tone with a subtle, melancholic edge without tugging at the heart strings too much. Some of the dialogue is truly thought-provoking, with some inspired references, especially that of the Old Man's.
Although the story-within-a-story-within-a-story structure doesn't completely come together, a lot of the inner story elements intrigue and move. The Old Man's, one of the more interesting characters of the film too, past scenes make for the most engrossing story and the one that had my attention the whole time. The acting mostly very good, the acting honours going to Jeremy Irons in a very touching and suitably enigmatic performance as The Old Man. Ben Barnes touches the heart too, while Bradley Cooper tones down the intensity that can be seen in other performances of his and the subtlety is effective. Zoe Saldana is much more than just decoration, there is not a lot to her role but she makes the most of it and does it with charm.
Sadly, 'The Words' is dragged down badly by the "real life" story, to the extent that it nearly but not completely ruins the film. It was very tedious, with more questions than answers, nothing investable and an aimless pace. The romance is full of cheesy dialogue and doesn't really go anywhere, the chemistry more unintentionally creepy than charming. Found Dennis Quaid's performance too underplayed to the point of phoning in and Olivia Wilde's performance and character were just bizarre.
Letting 'The Words' down significantly too was the ending, which was little more than an incomplete damp-squib. Ambiguity can work, but this attempt at it felt less like ambiguity, this actually felt like an ending started being written, then the writer got distracted and completely forgot about concluding it. Despite the whole literary concept, the film tends to over-explain or things are spoken when they could easily have been shown. A lot of effort went into 'The Words', but it did feel like it tried too hard.
In conclusion, interesting and has a fair share of good things, such as the production values, most of the acting and one particular story strand, but very frustrating with one story and the ending spoiling things badly. 6/10
