The Words is, at it's heart, a love letter to the power of the written word. A loving embrace to those who give of themselves and paint vivid images through the printed page. Marking the directorial debut of Tron: Legacy writers Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, they've put together an amazing cast, one that couldn't have been assembled without a deep respect for the material. However, despite Klugman and Sternthal's best intentions, the message they're trying to impart is crushed under the weight of their excessive artistic flourishes.
Bradley Cooper appears to have found his niche, as the two best performances of his career have come playing failed writers(the other was in Limitless). In this case he's Rory Hansen, a writer who unlike in Timeless, is a guy who has already found his narrative voice, and unfortunately nobody wants to hear it. While it's generally regarded as good, publishers continually pass it up, leaving Rory to wonder if his success will ever come. He's supported by his caring girlfriend, Dora(Zoe Saldana), and the two live happily in New York despite barely making ends meet. She believes in him, even when he doesn't believe in himself.
And then the miraculous happens. Rory takes on a completely different type of novel. Something he's never written before. A powerful, intimately detailed story of a soldier living in Paris during WWII, a young, wide eyed American who experiences devastating heartache and pain over the course of a few years. It's the type of stirring, richly detailed story that it puts you right there in the thick of it. With Dora's encouragement, the book is taken to publishers and eagerly snapped up. The book becomes an instant success, and suddenly Rory is at the top of his profession, just as he always thought he should be. People everywhere, including Dora, are seeing a potential in him that he always wished was there. There's just one major problem: He didn't write any of it.
The Words is presented through a series of flashbacks and jumps through time, so that there are essentially three interlocking stories going on at once. In fact, the film begins with Clay Hammon(Dennis Quaid), a successful novelist at an event to read a few chapters of his latest book, 'The Words'. The book is about Rory Hammond, and his meteoric rise to fame revealed entirely through flashback. As Rory's career surges, it hits an unexpected roadblock when an Old Man(Jeremy Irons) shows up and reveals to Rory that he knows the truth about the book he supposedly wrote. See, not only did the Old Man write the book himself, but it's based on his own traumatic experiences.
It's as the Old Man relives his journey that the film hits a creative peak, as we see him as a young soldier(played by Ben Barnes), who meets the love of his life while stationed in Paris. What starts as a typical storybook romance between him and the beautiful French woman in stunning red lipstick, soon falls victim to life's crueler whims. Death, betrayal, and ultimately a lasting regret that spans decades overtake him. In the midst of all this, perhaps because of it, he creates what would be the defining work of his career, that which Rory has taken from him and passed on as his own.
What we have is effectively a double blind, as we try to decipher the motivations of the two central narrators of the story, but also whether or not any of them should be trusted to present an honest account of their own transgressions. Sternthal and Klugman have an idea of the connections they want to draw between all three men, and it has mostly to do with identity and the effect living a lie has on a person's soul. The problem comes mainly in the present, as Clay Hammond plays an irritating question and answer game with a sexy groupie(Olivia Wilde). Their flirtations are pointless, and it's even harder to figure out why Clay would risk exposing the many secrets he has to hide. The film never makes it clear, and since we never get to know Clay the way we know Rory and the Old Man, it's hard to really care. If the film had been told in a more linear structure, the mystery could have been maintained and the throughline between each man would have been clearer.
That said, the film unfolds in a most beautifully layered way, and this is one instance where voice over narration is necessary and perfectly done. Irons in particular, recounting his days in the war portrayed by Barnes, has never been more commanding. As his story unfolds, you can see him slowly slipping back into the dreamy haze of memory, relishing every word and detail, both the glorious and the painful. But also, there's a seething anger just underneath that someone who never knew any of his anguish, would take what he lived through and present it as his own. The Old Man's rage is justifiable, and Irons plays it with ease. Cooper as well, continues to prove he's more than just a pretty face, and holds his own as a guy who had all the expectations in the world for himself, but realizes he may not be as talented as he once thought. Saldana doesn't get much to work with, although her character gets one crucial moment that sets Rory on his inevitable path.
Despite a number of great performances and some imaginative storytelling, The Words never really scores on an emotional level. As it was one of the first major films to be picked up at Sundance, it'll be interesting to see if the starpower can overcome its artsy trappings.
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