Book Review by Shayne Aldrae Cacalda

The Words

Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal

Reviewed by Shayne Aldrae Cacalda

Fiction, Drama, Thriller

97 minutes

Synopsis

“The Words” by Clay Hammond tells the story about a wannabe-writer, Rory Jansen. One day,
when he finds an old manuscript tucked away in a bag, he decided to pass the work off as his own. He
plagiarized everything in it and eventually, the book was published and was entitled “The Window
Tears”. It made Rory successful in life, until the real author of the story showed up and threatened to
destroy Rory’s reputation. What will happen next? What will he do? Will he change the name in the
book? Will he admit to public that he copied someone’s work?

Characters

 Bradley Cooper as Rory Jansen

 Jeremy Irons as The Old Man

 Dennis Quiad as Clay Hammond

 Zoe Saldana as Dora Jansen

 Olivia Wilde as Daniella

 Ben Barnes as Young Man

Background

I. Introduction

The Words is a mystery, romance, drama film that was aired on September 7, 2012. The film was
directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. It follows the story of a writer at the peak of his literary
success who discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man’s work.

Brian Klugman is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. He was born in the suburbs of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Also, Lee Sternthal is a writer and director. They both directed this film
together. They said that one day, they were having a discussion about art and artists, and those writers
who had lost their works. They started asking questions such as “What if Hemingway stopped writing
after he lost his work?” and “What will you do if you found his piece?” And eventually, they’ve come up
with the plot of the film. Furthermore, the two also said that they wrote the 40 pages of script on the first
night, including the scene where the old man approached Rory in a bench.

II. Development

Clay Hammond is now holding his book entitled “The Words” and is reading it in front
of his fans. The story began with a wannabe-writer, Rory Jansen, and his wife, Dora Jansen. Rory is doing
his best every day to write a good story that he’s dreaming to be published in public. His father do not
like what he is doing but still continues to write. One day, Rory finds an old manuscript tucked away in a
bag. He read it and found it very good. He never saw a story like that so he decided to pass the work off
as his own. He rewrites and copies every word that is in the paper. And when he finished typing, he felt
better because he knew that it is the day his life will change. The book was published in public and called
“The Window Tears”. It brings great acclaim to Rory. Dora believes that her husband is truly a great
writer after she read the book; but she doesn’t know that every word in there was plagiarized. The day
came where the real author showed up and threatened to destroy Rory’s reputation. Rory finally admits to
Dora that he saw a manuscript and just copy everything in it then published it under his name. He is so
frustrated that time and didn’t know what to do because even his wife left him in the most miserable
moment of his life. He went to the old man’s place and tried to apologize by giving money to him. The
old man didn’t accept it and just wanted Rory to realize that his life and family was destroyed by the time
he plagiarized the story. In the end of Clay’s telling the story, he mentioned that Rory Jansen still claimed
“The Window Tears” as his work.
 The Words is a fiction, mystery, and drama film. The movie’s way of narrating the story is third
person point of view (Clay’s view). It is a story within a story so it’s bit confusing for other people that’s
not good at critical thinking and analyzing those kind of plot. Actually, its plot too shallow for me. The
theme of the story is plagiarism, conscience, and person’s dream that he doesn’t want to let go.

III. Conclusion

Through the film, viewers can learn an important thing from it; to not plagiarize. Plagiarism is an
act of copying someone’s work while not citing or giving due credit to the author. It is recognized by the
law as crime. Plagiarizing can cause many problems to the original author and even to the individual who
did it.

The three writers have internal demons that they need to face. They need to learn from their
mistakes and make themselves better. When words are combined with irresistible temptations and
ambitions, it can be so powerful that it can cause complications. If people will just take plagiarism
seriously, then it can be considered as murder. One has stolen a man’s creative expression and that’s what
kills him. Copying someone’s work will just reflect that the person isn’t good enough to do someone like
the one he copied

The Words doesn’t only want to impart about plagiarism to the viewers. It also uniquely portrays
a conscience and an ambition of a person. The film wants us to ask and realize if we will do everything
for our dreams to be achieved even the only thing you can do to attain it is in a bad way. Will our
conscience and inner self will not bother us every day if we did it?

In the other hand, the film left me with so many questions like “Who really is Clay Hammond?”,
“Does his book reflect to his past?”, “What happened with Hammond and his wife?”, and “Who is
Daniella for him?” So as you can see, my questions are all about Clay Hammond. It is because Daniella
and Clay are the ones in the ending. I fully understand the movie until they started a conversation; from
then, I became so confused. I’ve even came up with many possible endings in my head. I know it is the
twist, but the directors of the movie should think of a better resolution. So now, I’m thinking if the twist
of the movie is to not understand the story and left the viewers so many questions.

I can see the film as a story within a story. Actually, it has 3 stories in it – Clay’s, Rory’s, and the
old man’s. The film is good; the script and the flow are superb. The only downsides of the film are its
lame ending and the emotion of the actors. I’m not satisfied and was not affected by the emotions
portrayed by the actors. The ending seems to leave the viewers so much hanging. To the point that I can’t
evaluate the story if it is solved or not. But in the positive side, the lessons and realizations of the movie is
good. I can say that all of us can relate to the story, not only the writers, because we know to ourselves
that we once plagiarized someone’s work for our own sake. I will rate the movie a 3 out of 5.
Remarkable Lines
Memorable Lines
“Do you think you can just steal part of my life?
Any man’s life? Take it as your own and expect
there’d be no price to pay? You take those words,
you take the pain.
- The Old Man
“My tragedy was that I loved words more than I
loved the woman who inspired me to write them.”
- The Old Man
“We all make choices in life. The hard thing is to
live with them. And there isn’t nobody can help
you with that.”
- The Old Man
Reactions
I’ve realized here that plagiarism is not just
copying someone’s work but is also stealing a
person’s life.
The old man sacrificed his own family and child for
his lost book. In real life, many authors are also too
focused and absorbed in writing stories that they
almost forgot to spend time with their family.
This is my favorite line in the movie because it’s
the most I can relate to. Making decisions and
picking choices are very difficult especially
because it’s the first step to your future. What you
do now will greatly affect the future.