Words and Pictures
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: May 23, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
13
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigJun 5, 2014
A thoughtful film about ideas — creativity, the power of language and the eloquence of visuals — it features two impeccable performances full of vitality. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 22, 2014
Words and Pictures has a host of flaws, but the performances by Mr. Owen and Ms. Binoche have a crackling vitality, and the screenplay’s strongest moments set off the kind of trains of thought that dedicated teachers hope to spur in their students. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryJun 5, 2014
None of the movie’s faults can undo the power of Binoche and Owen. Their interactions look so naturalistic that they seem unscripted. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 23, 2014
Words and Pictures is a minor effort from Schepisi, but minor Schepisi still trumps most of what’s out there. Read full review
75
ObserverMatthew KasselMay 22, 2014
Words and Pictures doesn’t possess the tender grace of "Enough Said," Nicole Holofcener’s wonderful film about middle-aged love. Nor does it have the kinetic energy of a high school movie like "The History Boys", adapted from Alan Bennett’s play. But it’s a winning effort from a director whose varied oeuvre has consistently charmed viewers. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianJeff BakerJun 5, 2014
Much of Words and Pictures is second-rate. A subplot involving a sexual harassment case is clumsily handled and a talented supporting cast, particularly Bruce Davison and Amy Brenneman, is underused. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJun 6, 2014
A kind of Tracy/Hepburn rom-com with a "Dead Poets Society" backdrop and dollops of human failing for added drama, Words and Pictures stars Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche - a matchup that makes you want to like Fred Schepisi's film, even when it becomes impossible to do so. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 5, 2014
Enjoyable, occasionally grueling, and overstuffed with incident and agenda. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 5, 2014
The movie looks like it was made for broadcast television, the place where words and pictures go to die. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungMay 22, 2014
If it wasn’t for the charming top-liners who can make literary dialogue sound sexy in their sleep, the war in Fred Schepisi’s Words and Pictures would have to be called off after the opening skirmish. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 22, 2014
For the most part, the florid flourishes are so lightly played by Owen and Binoche, screenwriter Gerald Di Pego's melodrama can almost be forgiven. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyAdam MarkovitzMay 21, 2014
It’s a rom-com setup lamer than anything in the Barrymore-Sandler canon, but Binoche and Owen tackle it like high drama and eke out a few sweet moments. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 5, 2014
Owen and Binoche both are quite good, rising above the material for the most part. But even they can't save the film from itself, or from an ending that's downright bizarre. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJun 4, 2014
The story is rather creaky, but who cares when the actors Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche are so sublime together? Even though the film creates an artificial construct that rings hollow, the two central characters generate great heat and interest. Their presence is enough to keep the film’s nattering foolishness at bay. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 22, 2014
Audiences will walk away thinking, "What was that?" But they will walk away thinking. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerMay 21, 2014
Words And Pictures is supposed to be divided, as equally as its title, between these two characters. But Owen’s performance as a man who values his own faux-sophistication even as he goes to seed overpowers Binoche, leaving the movie lopsided. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMay 21, 2014
Words and Pictures is the cloying title of a cloying little comedy made by talented people who, not that long ago, deserved better than this, and knew it. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick SchagerMay 20, 2014
Owen and Binoche's vigorous, battle-scarred performances, prop up Words and Pictures even when its plotting resorts to unbelievable devices. Read full review
40
VarietyScott FoundasMay 22, 2014
Both the words and the pictures are surprisingly flaccid, largely due to Gerald DiPego’s literate but hopelessly contrived screenplay and direction that lacks Schepisi’s usual snap. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMay 22, 2014
In the end, the only question of consequence that the story poses is whether superior acting can prevail over inferior writing. The answer lies not in the stars. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 22, 2014
Words and Pictures doesn’t get the dunce-cap award, but it does lose points for feeling phony and contrived — especially during the moments when it appears overly proud of what it is. Read full review
40
The DissolveKeith PhippsMay 20, 2014
Schepisi does nothing inventive visually, and the stars can’t find the humanity beneath Di Pego’s dialogue, generate much romantic chemistry, or make their personal struggles feel like burdens instead of scripted complications they’re destined to overcome before the credits roll. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonMay 23, 2014
Unfortunately, Words and Pictures fails at portraying both titular nouns. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezMay 18, 2014
At least the irony with which this transparently written and dispassionately aestheticized film so demagogically argues for the value of words and pictures is brutally convincing. Read full review
30
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMay 22, 2014
Words and Pictures never accrues enough emotional resources to bear out the darker, heavier moments, which turns its big dramatic moves into clunky embarrassments. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithMay 21, 2014
Clive Owen stumbles around the scenery doing unfortunate drunken-writer shtick in Words and Pictures, a formula movie whose script is yet more unfortunate. Read full review
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