A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brian Robbins
Produced by	Nicolas Cage Alain Chabat Stephanie Danan Norman Golightly Brian Robbins Sharla Sumpter Bridgett
Written by	Steve Koren
Starring	Eddie Murphy Kerry Washington Cliff Curtis Clark Duke Allison Janney Ruby Dee John Witherspoon
Music by	John Debney
Cinematography	Clark Mathis
Editing by	Ned Bastille
Studio	DreamWorks Pictures Saturn Films Varsity Pictures[1]
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures[1]
Release date(s)	March 9, 2012 (2012-03-09)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million[2]
Box office	$20,500,652[3]

A Thousand Words is a 2012 comedy-drama film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Brian Robbins. It was released in theaters on March 9, 2012.

Plot

Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) is a literary agent who uses his mouth to get various book deals, and isn’t afraid to stretch the truth to get them. While trying to get a book deal from a new-age self-help guru named Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis), the guru sees through the lies and curses Jack by placing a Boddhi tree in his backyard with 1000 leaves. With every word Jack says, a leaf falls off the tree. When the tree runs out of leaves, the tree will die and so will Jack. Even words that Jack writes count towards the 1000. Also, anything that happens to the tree will affect Jack. When Jack tries to cut it down with an axe, an axe wound appears on him. When squirrels climb the tree, it tickles him. When a gardener tries to poison it with DDT, Jack gets high on the fumes.

With Jack forced to pick and choose his words, communicating with others becomes difficult and full of misunderstandings. These misunderstandings cost him two book deals, his job, and his wife Caroline (Kerry Washington). She walks out on him when she thinks his sudden silence is due to him not loving her anymore. When he tries to explain the tree to her, she doesn’t believe him. Only Jack’s assistant Aaron (Clark Duke) realizes he is telling the truth, and goes to Jack’s house to keep track of how many leaves are remaining.

With his life falling apart and the tree running out of leaves, Jack goes to Dr. Sinja and asks how to end the curse. The guru tells him to make peace with all of his relationships. With just one branch of leaves left, Jack tries to reconcile with Caroline, but she’s still hesitant towards him. He visits his mother (Ruby Dee), who lives in an assisted living center and has dementia. She tells Jack (who she thinks is Raymond, Jack’s late father) that she wishes Jack would stop being angry at his father for walking out on them when he was a kid. Jack, realizing that this is the relationship that needs the most mending, goes to visit his father’s gravesite. With only 3 leaves remaining, Jack tells his Dad, “I forgive you.” With no leaves remaining, Jack collapses and appears to have died.

Jack’s cellphone rings, and it’s Aaron. He tells him that the tree’s leaves have magically reappeared. Jack, who is still alive, asks if any leaves are falling off, and they are not. Jack can now speak freely again. Realizing he has a new lease on life, Jack makes a last ditch effort to get back Caroline by buying the house she always wanted but he didn’t. It works and they get back together. He doesn’t get his job back (Aaron was promoted to Jack’s old position), but he wrote a book about the experience and gets Aaron to make the deal. The movie ends with Jack giving Aaron a branch of the Boddhi tree.

Cast

• Eddie Murphy as Jack McCall
• Cliff Curtis as Dr. Sinja
• Clark Duke as Aaron Wisenberger
• Kerry Washington as Caroline McCall
• Ariel Winter as Lila
• Steve Little as Co-Worker
• Allison Janney as Samantha Davis
• John Witherspoon as Blind Old Man
• Jack McBrayer as Starbucks Coffee Employee
• Kayla Blake as Emily
• Lennie Loftin as Robert Gilmore
• Ruby Dee as Annie McCall
• Alain Chabat as Christian Léger de la Touffe

Production

A Thousand Words was originally filmed in 2008, to be released in 2009, but was repeatedly delayed after being caught up in the separation of DreamWorks Pictures from Paramount Pictures and Viacom.^[4] During an interview for Fred: The Movie, director Brian Robbins stated that the film would be released in 2011.^[5] Reshoots were done on the film early in 2011.^[4]

The film was then given a January 2012 release, but after Murphy was announced as Oscar host (he later stepped down)^[6], the film was given a release of March 23, 2012;^[7] this was later pushed to April 20, 2012^[8] before opening in American theaters on its official release date of March 9, 2012.^[9]

Release

Box office

As of May 23, 2012 the film has grossed $18,391,943 in North America, along with $2,108,709 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $20,500,652.^[3]

Critical response

The film has been universally panned by critics. A Thousand Words has absolutely no positive responses on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews, with The Guardian commenting that the 0% rating shows that "Everyone, it seems, is united by A Thousand Words' awfulness." ^[10] The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes is that "removing Eddie Murphy's voice — his greatest comedic asset — dooms this painful mess from the start", and that having been shot four years before its release, its jokes became dated. Claudia Puig commented in USA Today, "The concept is unoriginal, the scenarios aren't funny, and its message is banal".^[11][12] Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film two out of five stars, admitting that "Murphy's die-hard fans will be pleased to see him vamp and improvise, but those looking for a worthy new comedy should look elsewhere for their cinematic fulfillment."^[13]

References

External links

• Official website
• A Thousand Words at the Internet Movie Database
• A Thousand Words at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Thousand Words at Box Office Mojo