The Words

Sometimes, thanks to those very spontaneous and open emotions, it seemed as if Anthony Minghella came back to life and made another one of his meticulously crafted, brilliantly written, and emotionally disarming dramas. It’s not exactly like that, as there were a couple of weaker moments from the creative duo Brian Klugman – Lee Sternthal (especially concerning Dennis Quaid), but the overall feeling is exceptional. After a long time, a film worthy film that I different from most others, not only for those who haven't seen everything. (08/04/2015)

The Words is a film from the family of naivety for the advanced, as were Penance or Ask the Dust. Every little intellectual is happy because John Fante is quoted in the film. Bradley Cooper's performance made me physically nauseous, and even Jeremy Irons playing it safe didn't save the day. By the time I started tearing my hair out, I was somewhat appeased by the inserted storyline featuring Ben Barnes and Nora Arnezeder in mid-1940s Paris, but neither that nor the mere presence of John Hannah could elevate the resulting shape above the usual mumbo-jumbo (i.e., an ambitious drama with a triple narrative line and an attempt at thought overload). (19/09/2012)

The cast was great, and I liked the subject matter a lot, but to tell you the truth, I don't know if I liked the film. The style of the narration, the transitions in the interweaving of the time planes, and the way the actors grasped their characters... In short, the whole thing had a slightly sentimental touch of cheesiness, which really disappointed me because otherwise I wouldn't have been so let down by the outcome. (28/05/2020)

I basically still don’t know what the ending was about and how to understand it. That’s, unfortunately, the only stain on this otherwise very interesting story that got an absolutely perfect movie adaptation. The mysteriousness was leaning towards five stars right from the very start. But then I could neither connect nor separate the three storylines, let alone figure out what’s real and what’s fiction. The premise in itself is exactly what makes the movie so interesting and if someone explains it to me, I’ll be thrilled. I watched this for the Challenge Tour 2015. (09/04/2015)

The Words has a great subject with Oscar potential, the possibility of a multi-layered idea and a great acting opportunity for the cast. It’s not that it didn’t succeed, but it didn’t do as well as it deserved to do. The flashbacks, which were meant to let the viewer feel the pain of Jeremy Irons’s character, are done in a kitschy way that weakens the whole foundation of the film. But the “in the present” level works, as we understand the decisions that Bradley Cooper makes in his situation, and he does a fine job of portraying the subsequent feelings of guilt and the effort to make everything right. The superstructure with Dennis Quaid attempts to summarize the ideas in hindsight and even playfully relativize them intellectually, but I found that somewhat unnecessary, at least in terms of its benefit for the story. (09/05/2020)