Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal make their directorial debut in the 2012 romantic drama The Words, starring Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, and Jeremy Irons ("The Words"). Unfortunately for the audience, the starpower of this film can not make up for the unnecessarily complex plot and disappointingly anticlimactic finish.
The story begins with Clayton Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reading his new book, The Words to an audience. The book focuses on the protagonist Rory (Bradley Cooper), who stumbles upon a manuscript and then copies the story and publishes it. The book becomes a hit and instantly makes him a hero, but the original author of the manuscript discovers and confronts him over the plagiarism. The second part of the book depicts the fallout in Rory’s personal life over the plagiarism and examines the parallel course in which the book runs with Hammond’s own life. …show more content…
Cooper and Irons do an outstanding job leading us through the story, and a surprisingly essential acting display by Ben Barnes is emotionally gripping as he rides the roller coaster of adversities on which the manuscript is based. The highs of the marriage and birthing of his child, and lows of death of both the child and marriage are filled with cheerfulness then despair. The visual elements of the film are aesthetically pleasing, specifically the grand scenes of the reading in the lecture hall and the professional attire and suave of Hammond. At the same time, the contrast with the simplicity of the post WWII times is refreshing and provides an interesting historical context that connects today with the past. The 1940’s cars and fashion sense transports the viewer backwards and gives a historical scenery to add another layer of
The story begins with Clayton Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reading his new book, The Words to an audience. The book focuses on the protagonist Rory (Bradley Cooper), who stumbles upon a manuscript and then copies the story and publishes it. The book becomes a hit and instantly makes him a hero, but the original author of the manuscript discovers and confronts him over the plagiarism. The second part of the book depicts the fallout in Rory’s personal life over the plagiarism and examines the parallel course in which the book runs with Hammond’s own life. …show more content…
Cooper and Irons do an outstanding job leading us through the story, and a surprisingly essential acting display by Ben Barnes is emotionally gripping as he rides the roller coaster of adversities on which the manuscript is based. The highs of the marriage and birthing of his child, and lows of death of both the child and marriage are filled with cheerfulness then despair. The visual elements of the film are aesthetically pleasing, specifically the grand scenes of the reading in the lecture hall and the professional attire and suave of Hammond. At the same time, the contrast with the simplicity of the post WWII times is refreshing and provides an interesting historical context that connects today with the past. The 1940’s cars and fashion sense transports the viewer backwards and gives a historical scenery to add another layer of