A Thousand Words

This is a classic example of a movie that should have been tested more before release as I could absolutely see the sheer brilliance and potential behind this project. I believe that the public's opinion about this film would have been much better had there been well written captioned thoughts with comedic value to match Eddie Murphy's facial expressions as that would have held viewers attentions longer and also increased the pace of the story. However, after watching the entire movie I was exceedingly happy with the overall story line and since all other aspects of the film were perfectly fitting- i.e. sound, music, lighting, editing, etc. I gave this a 9.5 (even though metacritic.com doesn't allow half points, hence the10), but never the less it's definitely worth a watch and for many out there it will be a poignant and heartfelt reminder to love your family. The ending could have used a twist as the obvious possibilities were present: I can think of 3, 2 of which could have incorporated the ending already used, but as it stands I absolutely agree that the final cut suits the mainstream audience just fine. Again, I firmly believe that having his thoughts hilariously captioned with good writing could have saved this title, but I have a good feeling that this might be a sleeper in terms of popularity for rental, cable, or streaming internet (IF they can include an alternate cut with good captions- hint hint).

I was sceptical about seeing this movie because, knowing the storyline, I was afraid Eddie Murphy may deliver over-the-top "Jim Carey-isms". That pretty much happened. But, I brushed that aside and watched a very interesting concept play out. There were some disappointments, but Critic reviews seemed a little harsh. I enjoyed this film.

It's stupid and corny and out of date, but it's not nearly as painful as everyone is making it out to be. It's got a few laughs and a good message about living life. Still not necessarily a "good" movie, but not a bad one by any means.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Is it funny? It is amusing, I'll give it that. I smiled out of pure schadenfreude, and I chuckled several times--but did I actually laugh? Well, there is a scene where gardeners spray insecticide on the tree, which has a drug like effect on McCall, who is at a business luncheon. The waiter rattles off a few menu items in French. McCall imitates the funny sounding language, and acts completely out of it, to the shock of the publishers he's meeting for a deal worth millions. There's nothing inherently funny about Murphy on drugs, but in the context of a formal lunch meeting, it works Other than that, there isn't a laugh to be found. Full review on my Blog.