Words And Pictures is an extremely hard film to wrap my mind around. It is so candid in how dumb it is and how beyond comprehension the premise is. However, it is also a film that is hard not to be won over by. The leads are so good together that the completely ludicrous subject matter almost gets past the audience. Notice there how I said almost. These are two great actors showing why they are so highly respected in their field by taking what easily could have been an extremely lousy film and making it charming. However, this is a case in which great acting can only go so far.
In the film, Clive Owen plays Jack Marcus, a formerly great and praised writer who is now an English teacher at a preppy high school with a detrimental love for alcohol. When he sees new teacher Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche), a renowned artist suffer from Arthritis, in the teacher's lounge, he automatically asserts himself in his loud, obnoxious ways. At first Dina is not charmed by him but she quickly starts to become flattered by his unusually manic behavior. However, seeing that Jack is an English teacher and Dina is an art teacher, they must debate whether words or pictures hold more value. The students at the school (or at least the ones who have the exact same schedule since they're all in the same classes with Jack and Dina) help raise the question by presenting their own positions.
Owen and Binoche are so incredibly lovely together that it's hard to watch the film fall apart as it goes along. The main problem is that the debate is so incredibly superfluous to the point where when the more interesting plots, the ones involving both Jack and Dina's relationship as well as the relationships with the students are pushed aside, I dreaded having to watch this silly, awful debate. I like the idea that Jack is livened up by Dina but still has a hard time controlling his drinking as well as a plot involving Jack and his estranged son but the debate at the center makes it so I had a hard time taking any of this seriously.
Also, the film throws too many eggs into one basket. Writer Gerald Di Pego (who wrote a personal favorite of mine, 1996's Phenomenon) and director Fred Schepisi (Roxanne, The Russia House, A Cry In The Dark, The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith...need I say more?) throw way too many plots on screen. It gets to the point where it's hard to care about any single character because the film doesn't give enough time or focus to any of them. This can also be seen by the ending, which wraps up in much too tidy of a manner.
Words And Pictures makes great use of the two incredible actors on screen and their natural chemistry. However, it doesn't make any use of anything else and therein lies the problem. It's hard not to recommend this film due to the immense charm of the two leads. However, Words And Pictures fails all too much at everything else for me to be able to do so. This is a perfect cable television film and nothing more.
(2 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for sexual material including nude sketches, language and some mature thematic material)
No comments:
Post a Comment