Words and Pictures: Good writing, good cast

Movie Review: Words and Pictures (2013) on HBO Max

I've forgotten what really good writing can do to drive a good film. Recently, I was reminded watching Words and Pictures.

The whole gist of this film is a washed up old writer turned English teacher (Clive Owen) and a struggling artist (Juliette Binoche) forced to teach fine arts at a prep school battle out which is more meaningful, words or pictures. Caught in the middle are their bright, impressionable high school students. The two teachers are at first caught up in their own misery and failure to achieve insights in their individual arts and fight it out in a battle of wits highlighted by the sexual tension between them and the devotion of their brightest students. But over time, they come to circle one another until they tangle in a competition in which their honors programs will decide on a supreme art: words or pictures, and the outcome may surprise you.

This is written with great wit and conversation around language arts, with quotes from the great authors of time--in essence, Words and Pictures becomes a piece of literary art in itself. 

At the same time, we see fine art explored visually as Binoche struggles to paint as the master painter her character is known to be yet struggles because of a disabling disease. We see her grasping brushes intricately small and industrially huge in painting masterpieces, yet not able to articulate her vision and anguishing over every stroke. Her studio is awash in art and anger. 

Meanwhile, required to write new manuscripts of prose and poetry, Owen can't muster the thoughts that once came so easily to him, now absorbed in debilitating alcoholism.

Both are spiraling out of control, before our eyes. And here they are, trying to guide students as they try to apply for college entrance!

So, what the writing does for the "words" part of the film, the staging, cinematography, and acting do for the "pictures" part of Words and Pictures, and it's a brilliant choreography. Binoche, a wonderfully natural actor, flows across the screen. Owen is hefty in most of his roles, and his passion in this role comes across with vigor and life.

Words and Pictures is a thinking film but also a feeling film. And I'd rate it A^ for Above Average on all Counts! Loved it.

Dan in Real Life: A Great Getaway Film

Movie Review: Dan in Real Life (2007)
Version: Showtime on Demand

Amazing how many movies there are from a few years ago I haven't seen, and there are tons of them out there that are really great. One of them is Dan in Real Life from 2007, with a fine cast and a decent script. I would say probably perfect for ages teen and older; in a pinch, older kids might sit still for it, too.

Dan is a single father raising three girls. He lost his wife to illness four years earlier and still hasn't learned how to let go of the loss, so he's holding on to a very young one, a teen, and one approaching adulthood. Every year the whole extended family meets at the family's lodge in Rhode Island for bonding time, and Dan (Steve Carell) drags Jane (Alison Pill), Cara (Britt Robertson), and Lilly (Marlene Lawston) along for the week away from their everyday lives to play nice with the relatives. He really should be out finding a new girl friend and letting them live their own lives. Well, surprise everyone, Dan meets Marie (Juliette Binoche) after his mother Nana (Dianne Wiest) sends him away to the bookstore, and he falls head-over-heels in love with her. When he gets back to the lodge, he tells his brothers about her only to discover his brother Matt (Dane Cook) has brought her as his girlfriend to meet the family, and now not only can Dan not tell anyone who he has fallen in love with, he can't pursue her has she has invited him to do while leaving the bookstore. And from here, all manner of awkward situations develop and ensue and create conflicts for Dan and Marie only a well-written rom com can resolve. I should add, John Mahoney appears as the family patriarch, Poppy, with his usual warmth and depth of character.

There are lots of plot twists and fun moments in a screenplay written as breezily and effortlessly as an episode of Frazier or Friends. Subplots and subtexts abound to make this story as rich and interesting as a Woody Allen comedy, although without the irony or sardonic wit, of course. You will feel at home in the coziness of this oceanside family compound and its rounds of games and meals and offside chats. Stop by for a spell and feel part of the family.

Dan in Real Life was one of our better movie picks in this time of pandemic lockdowns. We really escaped the worry and the bad news for a couple of hours of fun. I think you might enjoy it, too.