Words and Pictures 2014

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Clive Owen stumbles around the scenery doing unfortunate drunken-writer shtick in "Words and Pictures," a formula movie whose script is yet more unfortunate. Read more

Matthew Kassel, New York Observer: Predictable as it is lovely, with disappointments, regrets and resolutions all thrown into the mix of an uplifting tale. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: In the end, the only question of consequence that the story poses is whether superior acting can prevail over inferior writing. The answer lies not in the stars. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: One of those films that you want to like rather more than you actually do. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: This time out, both the words and the pictures are surprisingly flaccid, largely due to Gerald DiPego's literate but hopelessly contrived screenplay and direction that lacks Schepisi's usual snap. Read more

Jesse Hassenger, AV Club: Owen's performance as a man who values his own faux-sophistication even as he goes to seed overpowers Binoche, leaving the movie lopsided. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Starts out with a silly premise and seasons it with cliches, resulting in a half-baked movie that isn't as smart as it tries to be ... Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: No, it's not fair that "Words and Pictures" isn't the movie we'd like it to be. But if it were better at being the movie it wanted to be, that wouldn't be an issue. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: With remarkable ease, director Fred Schepisi delivers a literate, grown-up comedy in the forgotten tradition of George Cukor and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: What keeps the film humming along pleasurably despite these stumbles is the high energy of the two leads. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: If it wasn't for the charming top-liners who can make literary dialogue sound sexy in their sleep, the war in Fred Schepisi's Words and Pictures would have to be called off after the opening skirmish. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: That the couple have any charm is thanks to Owen and Binoche. In fact, it is hard not to hope that they'll get another chance at romance some day - the actors, that is. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The actors are decidedly mismatched -- not to each other, but to the material. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Shoots for vintage screwball and misses for lack of wit. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A movie that's a textbook case of not living up to its potential. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: "Words and Pictures" has a host of flaws, but the performances by Mr. Owen and Ms. Binoche have a crackling vitality ... Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Each combination of word and picture conjures something even stronger, as happens in memorable movies like Words and Pictures -- and with passionate couples like Marcus and Delsanto, who demonstrate the incandescent power of love and art. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Words and Pictures stars Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche - a matchup that makes you want to like Fred Schepisi's film, even when it becomes impossible to do so. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Owen makes Jack into such a mess that he casts everything into the zone of ambiguity. Does Owen know this? Perhaps he does and is intentionally subverting the film. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The movie looks like it was made for broadcast television, the place where words and pictures go to die. Read more

John Semley, Globe and Mail: Barely qualifies as a motion picture. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A romantic comedy about a match neither written nor pictured in heaven. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: If the text vs. image battle had merely remained in the background, that would be one thing, but the screenplay tediously brings it up over and over again, as though this were A Tree Falls in a Forest: The Movie. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A love story that actually has something on its mind beyond romance. Read more

Nick Schager, Village Voice: Amid its silly contrivances, the romance Words and Pictures manages to tap into middle-age regret, bitterness, and fears that the promise of youth has passed. Read more