El ladrón de palabras

Un tema estupendo con potencial para el Oscar, la posibilidad de un pensamiento múltiple y grandes oportunidades de actuación para los implicados. Y no es que no haya funcionado. Simplemente no resultó tan bien como merecía. Los flashbacks, que debían permitir al espectador sentir el dolor del personaje de Jeremy Irons, están hechos de una manera cursi que socava toda la base de la película. Pero la ecuación «en el presente» es funcional, entendemos la decisión de Bradley Cooper en su situación, e interpretó bien los sentimientos posteriores de culpa y de intentar arreglar las cosas. El metatexto con Dennis Quaid intenta resumir las ideas a posteriori e incluso relativizarlas intelectualmente de forma lúdica, pero me pareció un poco innecesario, al menos en cuanto a su utilidad para la historia. (08.05.2020)

I basically still don’t know what the ending was about and how to understand it. That’s, unfortunately, the only stain on this otherwise very interesting story that got an absolutely perfect movie adaptation. The mysteriousness was leaning towards five stars right from the very start. But then I could neither connect nor separate the three storylines, let alone figure out what’s real and what’s fiction. The premise in itself is exactly what makes the movie so interesting and if someone explains it to me, I’ll be thrilled. I watched this for the Challenge Tour 2015. (09.04.2015)

I’m quite shocked by the hysterical negative reviews from America that ripped The Words apart. It’s actually a good film that wants to say something. Though the ending doesn’t present everything on a silver platter, I think the meaning is clear. In that regard, it is good. But don’t expect a romantic movie, The Words is actually a rather thoughtful and artsy, dramatic game. Anyone who’s up for it, can easily find something. Anyone who’s not up for it will get the chance to complain. (14.12.2012)

The Words is a film from the family of naivety for the advanced, as were Penance or Ask the Dust. Every little intellectual is happy because John Fante is quoted in the film. Bradley Cooper's performance made me physically nauseous, and even Jeremy Irons playing it safe didn't save the day. By the time I started tearing my hair out, I was somewhat appeased by the inserted storyline featuring Ben Barnes and Nora Arnezeder in mid-1940s Paris, but neither that nor the mere presence of John Hannah could elevate the resulting shape above the usual mumbo-jumbo (i.e., an ambitious drama with a triple narrative line and an attempt at thought overload). (19.09.2012)

Three stories about love, creation, guilt, art, and the fact that sometimes even the deepest feelings are not enough. I don't understand where the creative duo of Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal has been hiding for so long because each of their journeys into the writer's soul escalates more strongly, and the final touch gives the phrase "absolute ending" a completely new dimension. That little point, that last glance and shot, causes the words to stick in your mind weeks in advance and happily return in various life situations. A unique and personal gem that perhaps finally convinces everyone that Bradley Cooper is even better in dramatic roles than in those voice roles. (22.04.2013)