A Thousand Words
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: March 9, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
26
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
8
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMar 14, 2012
If A Thousand Words' formula seems familiar, that's because writer Steve Koren has tripped down this quasi-metaphysical path before in "Bruce Almighty" and "Click." Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoMar 10, 2012
While A Thousand Words features some reverent flashes and even has the potential to touch audiences (a moment involving a mother with Alzheimer's particularly hits home), it suffers from being too broad. Read full review
40
Time OutA.A. DowdMar 9, 2012
Before this star vehicle devolves into a soggy New Age sermon, Murphy's manic pantomiming offers a few faint flickers of the mad comic genius from 1987's "Raw". Read full review
40
MovielineAlison WillmoreMar 9, 2012
It doesn't help that even the pratfalls in A Thousand Words look tired and recycled. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 9, 2012
The formulaic script by Steve Koren doesn't manage to exploit the absurd premise with any discernible wit or invention, and the star is left floundering. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAndy WebsterMar 8, 2012
The director, Brian Robbins, perhaps as a result of his prime-time pedigree, has so carefully engineered this manipulative machine that little emotional residue remains - only a product inoffensive, unsurprising and uninspiring. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghMar 8, 2012
Mostly harmless, but the largely joyless exercise is a letdown after getting a glimpse of a re-energized Murphy in "Tower Heist." Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 8, 2012
If only this Eddie Murphy flick had taken its own advice and spent a little more time being reflective instead of hyperactive, it might have overcome a trite script and awful, obvious excuses for comedy. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 8, 2012
The concept is unoriginal, the scenarios aren't funny, and its message is banal. Plus, Murphy alternately hams it up and phones it in. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 8, 2012
The poster art for A Thousand Words shows Eddie Murphy with duct tape over his mouth, which as a promotional idea ranks right up there with Fred Astaire in leg irons. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 10, 2012
His performance feels so disingenuous, so forced, that an otherwise perfectly acceptable high-concept comedy comes crashing down around him. Read full review
30
VarietyJustin ChangMar 8, 2012
Alas, even Murphy's largely wordless, physically adroit performance can't redeem this tortured exercise in high-concept spiritualist hokum. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithMar 9, 2012
When they came in to pitch A Thousand Words, no doubt by calling it "Jerry Maguire" meets "Groundhog Day," a studio exec should have raised the palm of rejection and said, "When you stop being sadly derivative and write an original idea that's as good as those two, come back." Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMar 8, 2012
For a comedy about the quest for inner peace, A Thousand Words reeks of desperation. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonMar 8, 2012
While the ending is wretchedly fakey and predictable, Murphy in subdued mode gives it a little authentic sweetness. Read full review
25
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 8, 2012
In A Thousand Words the camera stays about two inches from Murphy's hyperactive face, and you start to see the strain and desperation in the actor's eyes. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 8, 2012
This is the kind of colossally misguided vanity project. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 10, 2012
In theory, A Thousand Words should draw on its star's abilities as a physical comedian, but Murphy, miming his order for a triple latte at Starbucks, comes off like Charlie Chaplin on crystal meth; he's strenuously unfunny to watch. Read full review
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