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
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
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