Murphy annoys in 'Thousand Words'
By David Germain |
March 23, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the opening sequence of "A Thousand Words," Eddie Murphy starts with his back to the camera then turns abruptly to reveal a strip of duct tape over his mouth.
A good idea, if the once hip fast-talker of "Beverly Hills Cop" is going to continue using hollow comedies such as this as his mouthpiece to the world.
The notion of taking away motor-mouth Murphy's ability to spew words sounds like a bizarre filmmaking choice until you encounter the obnoxious clown he plays here, boorish literary agent and inattentive family man Jack McCall. He's so annoying you'll be aching for the moment the action comes around to that opening image when the duct tape gets slapped over Jack's mouth. That would be so he'll hold his tongue after a bodhi tree magically appears in his backyard and begins losing leaves each time he utters a word. He learns through a guru's mystical guesswork that when the last leaf falls, he will die.
Oh, yeah. About that plot. What left field did this senseless story from screenwriter Steve Koren ("Jack and Jill") come out of? And why didn't Murphy, director Brian Robbins and the producers give it much more credibility?
"A Thousand Words," made in 2008 but sat on the shelf until now, is a movie built on drivel. Murphy's Jack is a jerk, but a run-of-the-mill jerk, making the filmmakers' effort to build some sort of cosmic cautionary warning around him feel like overkill.
As the film opens Jack is the ace at his literary agency, not through sleaziness but just through rude, crude pushiness. He clearly loves his wife (Kerry Washington) and young son, but he's not good at the family thing yet. He treats his assistant (Clark Duke) and others in his circle like serfs, though he is more neglectful than abusive about it.
When he tries to sign self-help guru Sinja (Cliff Curtis) as a client, he gets a few mild gibes about his lifestyle from the spiritual guide. Next thing you know, a bodhi tree from Sinja's retreat transplants itself to Jack's backyard, a leaf dropping for each word Jack utters or writes. Sinja guesstimates there are a thousand leaves left and that when the last one falls, Jack will croak.
This makes little sense, but if you buy into it, a bunch of simple-minded moralizing about what's important in life follows.
Jack's just isn't worth the universe's extreme spiritual ministrations and "A Thousand Words" is not worth your time.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
