The Words addresses the ultimate quandary for any wannabe author – could you steal someone else’s story and sell it as your own?
Bradley Cooper plays Rory Jansen, a struggling writer who stumbles across a dog-eared manuscript while visiting Paris. Desperate to break into publishing, Rory considers submitting the work as his own. He makes a decision that not only alters the course of his life, but the paths of people he has never met.
An intriguing examination of the human conscious and morality, The Words is a poignant, bittersweet tale that raises as many questions as it does answers.
It is presented as a tale-within-a-tale which is then set within another layer of story altogether. Sounds complicated, but (mercifully) it isn’t.
Bradley Cooper is perfectly cast as Jansen, his face wears an expression which always seems a little too smug, too distrusting. Performances from Dennis Quaid and Jeremy Irons add a much-needed edge of gravity to the delicate issue presented in the story.
Beautiful cinematography brings the story to life, with the only real weakness of the film is that even at only 97 minutes it feels a little long. The tension just doesn’t sustain the distance.
Having said that, The Words is a satisfying film about a moral quandary that really gets you thinking. What would YOU do?