When we think of thrillers, we think of explosions, actions, cops, killers, and twist endings. This genre keeps us on the edge of our seats with keen pacing and palpable suspense. However, there is a sub-genre of thriller which leans more towards drama and relies on more of a slow-burn approach. These films often deal with a character who has done something wrong and we wait in anticipation to see what will happen next. The best examples of this genre lean towards paranoia, such as Shattered Glass. Keeping with the subject of plagiarism, today we look at the Bradley Cooper vehicle The Words.

Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) is a struggling writer who is determined to create a great novel. His girlfriend, Dora (Zoe Saldana), believes in him and supports him through the rejection letters. The two get married and while honeymooning in Paris, Rory comes across an old briefcase in an antique store. Finding it charming, he buys it, and upon returning home, finds a manuscript inside. The book tells the story of an American soldier (Ben Barnes) who is stationed in Paris and falls in love with a local (Nora Arnezeder). The two become a couple and begin a tumultuous life. Rory re-types the manuscript and submits it as his own work. A publisher buys it immediately and it becomes a hit, selling well and earning awards for Rory. This success allows him to get his own novel published. But, the guilt follows him everywhere. Things come to a head when Rory is approached by an old man (Jeremy Irons) who knows a lot of details about Rory's novel.

The story in The Words is comprised of several layers. As noted above, the bulk of the film focuses on Rory's story. Then, we have the story-within-a-story which details what happened in the manuscript Rory found. There is also another layer, at the outset, we assume that it's just narration, but we soon see that Rory's story is actually being told by Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid), who is reading the tale to an audience. Following the reading, Clay is approached by Daniella (Olivia Wilde), a student who wants to know more about his work.

Despite these levels, The Words spends most of its time examining Rory's tale. This becomes a classic "what would you do?" morality play. Rory seems like a pretty nice guy and we want to see him succeed and where's the harm in reproducing this manuscript which has been lying untouched for over half-a-century? However, we question Rory's impetuousness and the fact that once he's read the story, he quickly submits it without a second thought or consulting with Dora. Of course, this opens the door to a brand new world for the couple and a can of worms as well. Going in, I already knew what The Words was about, but it's still chilling when the old man approaches Rory, and we, the audience, begin to question his motivations for wanting to tell the truth. The movie plays like a crime film, but the weight rests solely on the main character's conscience.

Having said that, there is still something missing from The Words. Co-writers/Co-Directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal has created a script which, again, has many layers and does a fairly good job of covering up any plotholes. (How could the old man prove that he wrote it? There's an answer to that. Although, I am left to wonder how this couple who was supposedly struggling were able to honeymoon in Paris.) And yet, there is very little tension here. No, this wasn't billed as any sort of suspense-thriller, but nonetheless in a movie like this we should be on the edges of our seats. Will Rory get caught? What does the old man want? These questions should be racing through our minds, but they don't. This is due in part to the film's pacing. If Klugman and Sternthal wanted to create any suspense, it doesn't show in the editing or pacing. There's not even much awkwardness when Rory confesses to Dora. This is further hampered by the narrative structure of having Clay tell Rory's story. This pulls us out of the story while making us wonder exactly why these two things are happening at once. The film's ending is abrupt and somewhat vague, although I think that most would agree on the meaning.

The Words makes one question the items found in Parisian thrift shops on DVD courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source materials. The colors look good and the image is never over dark or bright, despite the fact that the film leans towards darker tones. The image is rarely soft and the level of detail is fine for a DVD. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Being a drama, we don't get a lot of dynamic effects here. The applause from Clay's reading provide some nice surround sound effects, as does the train in the old man's story. The stereo effects are admirable, and we are treated to sounds coming from off-screen at times in the right and left channels.

The Words DVD contains only two extra features. "Unabridged: A Look Behind the Scenes of The Words" (8 minutes) contains interviews with multiple cast and crew members who talk about the story, the themes of the script and how they became involved in the project. The piece then takes a look at how the Paris scenes were done in Montreal. "A Gentleman's Agreement" (2 minutes) reproduces some soundbytes from the previous featurette which focus on how Cooper and the writers have known each other for years.