Consider the power of the word that can provoke and divide, heal and wound. The literary world hinges on the harnessed energy of the written word and the authors that wield that power. Told as a story within a story, The Words, the newest film by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, tries to deliver a contemplative character-driven drama that explores the authenticity of the literary word. While the movie darts between being a fulfilling romance and a smart thriller, the characters themselves lack the substance to follow through with its profound message about self-worth and greatness.

The movie is separated into several layered narratives. The outer layer follows successful author Clay Hammond as he reads sections from his novel to an audience assembled for a book release party. Hammond's novel provides the second layer of the movie, which follows struggling writer Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper). The audience is first introduced to Jansen as he fights to find an agency to publish his novel. After hitting the proverbial wall with rejection letters, Jansen falls into a deep depression as he questions whether he will ever truly accomplish what he had envisioned for his life as a successful writer.
Months later, Jansen finally achieves the literary success he had always hoped for when he publishes his first novel, the idea for which is not his own.

Before long, the lie snowballs and, in the next scene, Jansen is signing a contract with an agency and being called the "darling of the New York literary world." But, of course, Jansen must contend with the fact that the success he so desperately wanted comes from the words and ideas of the Old Man, played by Jeremy Irons. Here audiences will see the third layer of the movie unravel, in which Irons relays his own story in France during World War II where he originally wrote the novel.

The premise of this movie will appeal to any writer, artist or creator who understands the simultaneous grief and gratification of producing something of his or her own. The very effort of creating involves leaving some part of yourself in the work. Whether you're writing, painting or filming, you bring your own experiences and emotions into every word, stroke and scene. For Jansen to then operate as a virtual succubus and steal another's words violates every artistic standard.

However, the movie also functions as a more prominent commentary on how the literary world contemplates authenticity and truth in its writers. Audience members may remember the firestorm James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, endured after he revealed several parts of his novel illustrating his real-life drug withdrawal were exaggerated and, in some parts, completely fabricated. While his book was labeled as non-fiction and readers would approach the book with a different expectation of the truth than a fiction novel, the wide-spread backlash indicates how we hold writers to a certain standard. We enter into an unspoken contract with the author who guarantees some revelation or truth at the conclusion of his or her book. Jansen's subversion of that truth provides an interesting note on the authenticity of the literary world. When we can no longer trust the author to truthfully relay his or her words and the experiences that derived those words, what becomes of the reader-author relationship?

That being said, the fault in The Words lies in how it relies on clich?(c) after clich?(c) to carry its convoluted narrative: the French damsel bidding goodbye to her American lover at the train station, the egotistical author entertaining a young groupie and the poor young writer in love with a difficult woman. Ironically, while the film revolves around the importance and quality of words, the dialogue in the movie seems to lack any kind of depth or substance. Consequently, without convincing dialogue, Jansen's struggle with losing his self-respect fails to resonate with the audience. And the tired love story between Irons and his French wife illustrating how Jansen's novel was originally written appears stiff and unoriginal.

Although the movie suffers from the generic and lackluster dialogue, the performances by Irons and Cooper shine through the multilayered narrative. Irons provides a deep, moving portrayal of the man held prisoner by the words he wrote decades before that upended his marriage. His out-of-place, subtle British accent completes the tortured portrait of the tired old man. Cooper also illustrates well the inner turmoil of a writer robbed of his ability to judge his own self-worth. When his accomplishments are tied to the work and words of another, Jansen will never be able to discern whether he could have achieved the same success by himself.

Despite these performances, the characters' lack of depth and the movie's disingenuous use of clich?(c)s hinder the success of the film. While a worthy attempt at an abstract commentary on the elusive literary world, the movie is unable to move past its two-dimensional characters and uninspiring dialogue. In the end, The Words falls short.