What would you do? The movie, “The Words,” poses this question as it presents a captivating story of one person who ignores his ethics in his desperation for success. In today’s world, where success is expected and ethics are not required, this film challenges what is right and what is easy.
The plot, though a bit predictable, never left the viewer uninterested. Even though I knew the obvious twists of the plot, I was never able to figure out exactly how each twist was going to come about, which kept me intrigued. Along with following each of the four story lines within the plot, the audience is confronted with the task of figuring out what is real and what is fiction. I have yet to accomplish that task and have accepted the fact that I probably won’t be able to do so. The confusion that the film creates is the same intrigue that makes it a great movie. The story, or stories I should say, keep you standing at attention the entire two and a half hours which makes it worth $8.
Directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, the story begins with Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reading his book, “The Words,” to an audience (which becomes the narration of the movie). His story surrounds a man named Rory Jameson (Bradley Cooper), a struggling aspiring author, who after years of failing to achieve his dream of writing a best-selling novel, discovers a book in a brief case he purchases on his honeymoon. The story was so good that Jameson became desperate to call it his own work, so he typed it word for word on his computer and went on to get it published in his name. After experiencing success and adoration from fans because of it, he is confronted by the real author of the book (Jeremy Irons). After hearing the circumstances in which the book was written, Rory struggles with his own morals and what the right thing to do is. The ending ties together the old man, Rory and finally Clay Hammond.
Each character is affected in one way or another by another’s choices which come from lacking or ever present morals. Those choices create the guilt, internal and external conflicts and love between everyone. Without needing the dialogue, the amazing cast was able to portray exactly what each character was feeling and create a real person that the audience never can really figure out beyond knowing who they are supposed to be instead of who they are. There are no protagonists or antagonists—just a group of people who made decisions both good and bad and each actor was able to make them likable or understandable no matter what they did or didn’t do.
The most important part of this movie that makes it a must see is that it makes the viewer think. It challenges the audience to wonder what they value, what the right thing to do really is and what can and cannot be justified. A movie this thought provoking deserves viewership and recognition.
