My Thoughts on the movie "The Words"

Keyth also wrote his views on "The Words." Please visit his blog and decide who drew it best. Below is a rendering of my response to the movie.

http://keythnotallure.blogspot.com/

 

Who Drew it Best?

 

What is a word, and what is the power of words? Recently, I saw the movie The Words, which provoked such questions. As a writer and creative person, I was drawn to see this film after viewing the trailer. While there are many movies about authors with their hand in the cookie jar such as Wonder Boys and A Murder of Crows, the unique take on this idea that The Words provided makes it a worthwhile investment of time and money.
         

The movie starts with one of the main characters, the writer (played by Dennis Quaid) reading his book to a large audience. The story he reads transitions into the narrative, which presents the trials, struggles, and challenges of the protagonist, Rory. The narrative begins as the audience would likely expect. Rory struggles to start his writing career, and just at the moment when his frustration peeks, he discovers a gem of a story in a bag his wife bought him in Paris. Inspired by the transcript, and due to desperation coupled with a miscommunication with his wife, he gets the book published in his name. After that, his career is made. He establishes a name for himself, living the life he always wanted to and knows he deserves. Who cares if he wrote it or not? He asks himself. He has arrived, and he looked good while doing it. He was able to support his wife and himself as he had always felt he should, and he finally made his father proud. Best of all, he had achieved a legitimate career as a writer. The cost was relatively small in terms of his mild ethical loss, and the reward was larger than life.
           

Eventually, an old man who actually wrote the words would tell him there is a cost to pay for stealing his life. The old man informed him that he took the words and now he must live with the pain associated with them. The old man did not require money or recognition. His only wish was to relieve the pain that the written words Rory published as his own had caused him. He wanted forget how once words were once more important than repairing a relationship with his wife, and he wanted to move past the pain of losing his daughter suddenly.
           

Rory became consumed with guilt, and soon the price he paid for success became too expensive. Now Rory wanted a discount or a rebate of some kind. He insisted the old man provide him with an answer to this cruel riddle in which he found himself trapped. However, the old man wanted to be done with the past; he had purged himself of the pain by sharing his story with Rory. The old man likely knew the road to inner peace must be navigated by the person behind the steering wheel. Nonetheless, in an act of mercy, the old man gave Rory the benefit of his wealth of wisdom. He told him that life is more important than words, and advised Rory to prioritize happiness and those he valued over dwelling on past mistakes. Otherwise, the old man said, he would soon notice his life had passed him by. Rory heard him, but we are not told the end of the story. Instead, the movie transitions back to the author’s life, which makes it fair to assume the author’s life, paralleled Rory’s life. The author of the book talks to a graduate student about the ending and the moral consequences of the story, in a scene that reveals the author is still haunted by his obsession with words. It seems the author must find inner peace on his own.

 

Please click on the link below to view the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aLI-DtLiNw