The Words (2012)

A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man's work.

Directors:

Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal

Writers:

Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Quaid	...	Clay Hammond
John Hannah	...	Richard Ford
Jeremy Irons	...	The Old Man
Bradley Cooper	...	Rory Jansen
Zoe Saldana	...	Dora Jansen
Vito DeFilippo	...	New York Apartment Doorman
Michael McKean	...	Nelson Wylie
Lucinda Davis	...	Vendor
J.K. Simmons	...	Mr. Jansen
Olivia Wilde	...	Daniella
James Babson	...	Dan Zuckerman
Kevin Desfosses	...	Rory's Assistant
Ron Rifkin	...	Timothy Epstein
Brian Klugman	...	Jason Rosen
Liz Stauber	...	Camy Rosen (as Elizabeth Stauber)

Storyline

Layered romantic drama The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.

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Plot Keywords:

writer | novel | soldier | plagiarized book | two word title | 

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Taglines:

There's more than one way to take a life.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 September 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Palavras

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,750,894 (USA) (7 September 2012)

Gross:

$11,434,867 (USA) (28 September 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Also Known As Pictures, Benaroya Pictures, Animus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Rory find and reads the Old Man's manuscript, the first page shown on-screen is actually an excerpt from Ernest Hemingway's memoir, "A Moveable Feast", discussing one of his early short stories called "Up in Michigan". Nearly all of Hemingway's other early works were lost because the suitcase his wife had packed them in was stolen from a train in Paris when she left in unattended for a few minutes; the Old Man's story clearly parallels this event.

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Goofs

When Rory and Dora are arguing in the alley outside of the restaurant, Rory's words do not match his lips' movements.

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Quotes

Clay Hammond: At some point, you have to choose between life and fiction. The two are very close, but they never actually touch.

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Connections

Featured in Chelsea Lately: Episode #6.132 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"La Marseillaise"
Written by 'Claude Joseph Rouget De Lisle'
Performed ny Ben Barnes

User Reviews

Four generations of stellar actors!

This is such an under-rated movie and it is so sad that it will not be seen by more people.

Bradley Cooper has a great career ahead as a producer, he was very smart to make this project. The four generations of great actors were so well- chosen, each one the sexiest man alive I'm sure at one time or another. For me it was Dennis Quaid, and I saw more of the old Dennis Quaid in this movie than in a very long time. Bradley Cooper is the third generation actor in this piece and he really shows his acting chops. He's not just a pretty face! The pretty face is now Ben Barnes and what a great face it is. He is perfect as the young 'old man' in Paris after the war.

I almost never like stories within a story, now do I like stories about authors or actors, they always seem so navel-gazing, but this movie trumps all of those problems in such an amazing excellent way.

Watch this movie, you won't be sorry.