The Words: Movie Review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Words attempts to be Inception for book lovers.  Attempt being the operative word.

Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) is a successful novelist, and while on a whirlwind book tour he finds himself in New York where he manages to read out loud 2/3rds of his book.  Technically that would have taken quite a long time, but I deviate.  In the middle of his reading Daniella (Olivia Wilde) sits and listens amongst the large crowd.

The Story Hammond tells follows Rory (Bradley Cooper) and Dora (Zoe Saldana).  Rory is a struggling writer, and during a honeymoon in Paris Dora buys him a worn out briefcase.  He's pleased with the gift, but it isn't until he's at home and going through the pockets of the briefcase that he discovers a manuscript.

This manuscript that Rory reads, typed out on yellowing paper, is the story of a young man living in Paris during WWII.  Instead of wondering who wrote the story, Rory is transfixed by the masterful writing, overwhelmed with the need to feel the words through his fingers as he types them, word for word, into a word processor.  One thing leads to another and "The Window Tears" is a runaway success.  What Rory doesn't realize is that this novel is the autobiographical story of "the old man" (Jeremy Irons).

The Words is a story within a story within a story, and we get the chance to see each of these plot lines play out.

The problem with this movie is the way each of these plot lines are developed and balanced.  I was least interested in Hammond's storyline and found myself wanting to watch the other two parts.  And I wish more was shown of "The Window Tears."  That part was enchanting and interesting, but was skimmed over.

Without giving anything away, the ending is a little abrupt if you don't reason how the three stories are connected, leaving a somewhat empty feeling when the credits roll.  But unlike Inception you wont spend months theorizing and arguing over the endings meaning.

I did enjoy many elements of the movie, and I could see it again in the future, but not immediately.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brief strong language, smoking . . . and a whooooooole lot of kissing.