Life is often stranger than fiction, and that sentiment has never been so effectively displayed as it is in the The Words, a story within a story (within a story) about a struggling writer who finally happens upon that masterpiece he’s been trying to get published. Only problem is, his success is all fiction. Rory Jansen (a somewhat suprisingly dramatic turn by Bradley Cooper, who typically plays less serious roles in movies like The Hangover and Hit and Run) has dedicated his life to being a professional writer, only to receive rejection letter after rejection letter, with only brief glimmers of backhanded hope here and there. But that doesn’t keep him from living a storybook life as he and his lover (Zoë Saldana) get married, honeymoon in Paris and start a young life together in New York City.
Dora and Rory Jansen (Zoë Saldana and Bradley Cooper) ponder the satchel that will change their fate in "The Words" (photo by Jonathan Wenk)
Some time after they return from Paris, Rory finds the gripping story he’s been looking for… tucked away inside a leather satchel his wife purchased for him at a French antique shop. Unable to stop thinking about the story, he finds himself inspired once again, staying up late to transcribe the words from the yellowing paper into his laptop. His wife reads the story, mistakes it for Rory’s own writing, encourages him to submit it to publishers and, before he knows it, he’s a celebrated plagiarist with a best-selling book. And what’s the harm in it all, really? Rory’s secret will never be revealed, and the success of this book will allow him to get his other novels (the ones he’s actually written) published.
Well, that seems to be the case until Rory meets a sickly old man (Jeremy Irons) who has a story of his own to tell about a young boy who falls in love in Paris, finds happiness, suffers tragedy and copes with the tragedy by putting his thoughts on paper, only to lose the leather satchel in which those pages were kept. The irony of the situation, of course, puts Rory in quite a predicament. Rory’s secret is in danger of being exposed and this old man could destroy the life Rory has built (in much the same way the old man’s own young life was destroyed, inspiring the story Rory has claimed as his own).
Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) and the old man responsible for his success (Jeremy Irons) are at an impasse in "The Words" (photo by Jonathan Wenk)
As if that wasn’t a big enough moral dilemma, The Words throws the viewer for another loop as the equally successful Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reads excerpts from his latest novel to a packed college auditorium. And Clay’s work of fiction recounts the story of a young writer who finds the perfect novel, publishes it as his own and is confronted by the old man who claims to be the actual author. But is Rory’s story actually Clay’s story? Is the old man a character in one of these stories or the real person responsible for Rory and/or Clay’s success? Is it all a lie or has life truly proven to be much stranger than fiction? These are the struggles at the heart of The Words, and thankfully the viewer is left on his own to decide how the story truly ends.
The Words. Directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Starring Bradley Cooper, Zoë Saldana, Jeremy Irons and Dennis Quaid. Rated PG-13. www.thewordsmovie.com.