In spite of myself, I find myself becoming fonder and fonder of Bradley Cooper.
I have never liked him - which is not to say I don't recognize his talent, I thought he was quite good in Wedding Crashers and The Hangover (I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Limitless, for more reasons than him). I've just always gotten this incredible...smug feeling from him. He seems smarmy to me, like in real life he'd be kind of sleazily good looking and take advantage of every drunk girl in the room. (PLEASE NOTE: I have NO IDEA if this is true. It's probably not. But it's the air I got from him.)
Well, I'm coming around. While The Words suffers sometimes from being too clever for most of its plot lines - including never actually stating that it's about Hemingway's lost manuscripts, even though it's totally about Hemingway's lost manuscripts - it is saved by completely absorbing performances and the very bold risks it takes.
Let's talk about that for a minute. When I was picking a movie to see this weekend, I narrowed my choices down to Lawless and The Words. The deciding factor, after weighing hearsay, actors, and subject matter, was length: The Words caps out at 97 minutes long. Aside from movies intended for children, I can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theater that was less than two hours long. The trend seems to be toward longer and bigger stories, which isn't bad in and of itself, although it does make for some poor editing choices. The Words, however, commits to its short length, with tight storytelling and good editing. There's no wasted time here, and no wasted space.
The only real missed opportunity is Zoe Saldana as the wife of Bradley Cooper's suffering author, who only ever pops up to react to something he's done. What she does, she does beautifully (no one can cry like Zoe), but she's better than this role, and could have brought some real edge to Dora if she'd been given more material to work with.
But the story is the real star of this show, with three twisting strands: you have Dennis Quaid as author Clayton Simmons, giving a reading of his book. That book is about author Rory Jansen, struggling in NYC to get his labor-of-love manuscript published. He finds an old manuscript (A Farewell to Arms disguised by cinematic convenience and a briefcase from the 1940's) and, after finding his despair in it (he will never be half the author this mystery writer is, woe), he publishes it under his name. Jeremy Irons reads it, recognizes his own work, and finds Rory to tell him the true story behind the transformative writing.
That's a lot going on, but due to some beautiful cinematics and the aforementioned tight storytelling, there's no confusion about where or when you are in the story. The only vagueness wanders in at the end, and it's there for a reason: you as the audience are meant to contemplate the truth of the words, and decide for yourself what the edges of the reality for all three writers (Quaid, Cooper, and Irons) are. It's a lot of meat for such a short movie, and I appreciated the chance to chew on it.
The other big risk here is that The Words is not out to please its audience, or even to provide a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't even really end. It's a movie about a moment, and the immediate fallout of a decision, and the lingering self-doubt and guilt that gets left behind. It is almost refreshing its unwillingness to satisfy anyone, the audience or the characters, and while I don't think I'd make a habit out of watching movies of this flavor, it certainly made for an interesting experience.
I have never liked him - which is not to say I don't recognize his talent, I thought he was quite good in Wedding Crashers and The Hangover (I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Limitless, for more reasons than him). I've just always gotten this incredible...smug feeling from him. He seems smarmy to me, like in real life he'd be kind of sleazily good looking and take advantage of every drunk girl in the room. (PLEASE NOTE: I have NO IDEA if this is true. It's probably not. But it's the air I got from him.)
Well, I'm coming around. While The Words suffers sometimes from being too clever for most of its plot lines - including never actually stating that it's about Hemingway's lost manuscripts, even though it's totally about Hemingway's lost manuscripts - it is saved by completely absorbing performances and the very bold risks it takes.
Let's talk about that for a minute. When I was picking a movie to see this weekend, I narrowed my choices down to Lawless and The Words. The deciding factor, after weighing hearsay, actors, and subject matter, was length: The Words caps out at 97 minutes long. Aside from movies intended for children, I can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theater that was less than two hours long. The trend seems to be toward longer and bigger stories, which isn't bad in and of itself, although it does make for some poor editing choices. The Words, however, commits to its short length, with tight storytelling and good editing. There's no wasted time here, and no wasted space.
The only real missed opportunity is Zoe Saldana as the wife of Bradley Cooper's suffering author, who only ever pops up to react to something he's done. What she does, she does beautifully (no one can cry like Zoe), but she's better than this role, and could have brought some real edge to Dora if she'd been given more material to work with.
But the story is the real star of this show, with three twisting strands: you have Dennis Quaid as author Clayton Simmons, giving a reading of his book. That book is about author Rory Jansen, struggling in NYC to get his labor-of-love manuscript published. He finds an old manuscript (A Farewell to Arms disguised by cinematic convenience and a briefcase from the 1940's) and, after finding his despair in it (he will never be half the author this mystery writer is, woe), he publishes it under his name. Jeremy Irons reads it, recognizes his own work, and finds Rory to tell him the true story behind the transformative writing.
That's a lot going on, but due to some beautiful cinematics and the aforementioned tight storytelling, there's no confusion about where or when you are in the story. The only vagueness wanders in at the end, and it's there for a reason: you as the audience are meant to contemplate the truth of the words, and decide for yourself what the edges of the reality for all three writers (Quaid, Cooper, and Irons) are. It's a lot of meat for such a short movie, and I appreciated the chance to chew on it.
The other big risk here is that The Words is not out to please its audience, or even to provide a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't even really end. It's a movie about a moment, and the immediate fallout of a decision, and the lingering self-doubt and guilt that gets left behind. It is almost refreshing its unwillingness to satisfy anyone, the audience or the characters, and while I don't think I'd make a habit out of watching movies of this flavor, it certainly made for an interesting experience.
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