MovieChat Forums > A Thousand Words (2012) Discussion > So what made this movie so terrible?

So what made this movie so terrible?

posted 13 years ago by Samurai_Joe_Marshall
19 replies | jump to latest

I hadn't read/seen anything about this movie until today when I saw it had a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. So I read the basic plot info:

"Eddie Murphy is Jack McCall, a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis) for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack's life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he's got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he's a goner."

This sounded like it had potential. If you took away the words "and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate", it seems like it could be a fun and touching little movie. Granted, I have not seen it (I haven't even seen any clips), but for those of you who have seen it: what made this movie so god-awful? I know Mr. Murphy hasn't been on a roll lately (as far as live-action comedies go), but this couldn't have been THAT bad to garner a 0%...

[–] coldplayfairy 13 years ago

It was. I don't even know how to explain it. Bad, bad acting. Especially the young guy in the glasses.

[–] TVippy 13 years ago

I thought the guy with the glasses was alright, certainly not the worst. The worst for me was the Indian guy, who wrote the book. A terrible miscast, a terrible acting on his part.

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Victims, aren't we all?

[–] BadSurge 13 years ago

Compared to some of his more recent flicks it wasn't bad (Tower Heist notwithstanding).

But I didn't think it was terrible. Some of the scenes between him and his wife disingenuous. The white kid with the glasses did the best he could with a very one dimensional character, but couldn't be vulgar (where he's funniest; probably a weakness). I don't know, Eddie Murphy needs other stars in his movies.

[–] alesisqs61 13 years ago

Actually, the movie was much better than it's box office shows. The movie has alot of heart if you just don't go in with any expectations. I've seen much worse films that did much better at the theater. In my opinion, it's one of his better films...it was marketed completely wrong as a comedy. It's not a very funny film, nor is it supposed to be. It's a bit like Adam Sandlers movie Click... except a little bit more realistic. The movie is really just about self discovery and finding peace with yourself. It's out now and I recommend people watch it, and judge for themselves. It didn't have alot of other big actors because they secondary actors are not important aside from the Guru and the wife.

http://www.youtube.com/user/alphazoom
http://www.vimeo.com/1986276

[–] Mrpinkeye 13 years ago

i watched it not expecting much. really liked the first half, the second half had me yawning though, but mushy and predictable

[–] Sahil_Madan 13 years ago

The film is watchable..still better then twilight :)

[–] redsmurph 13 years ago

I've seen it, and what I disliked the most was Eddie´s overacting and bizarre facial expressions, that we've all seen way too often already. Kind of like Jim Carrey at his worst, and completely out of place for the movie's subject matter.

The second part of the movie is more serious, and Eddie also comes more to his senses acting-wise then.

[–] PrimitiveScrewhead 13 years ago

The problem with the movie is that the idea is intensely dark but stylistically, along with the choice of cast and crew, they made a film that was light family slapstick, and these two elements clash terribly.

The script is very muddled and would've benefited from making the protagonist more hateful at the beginning that ultimately leads to his redemption. He has too many emotional flaws and isn't a particularly bad person. There's barely any sense of binary opposition between any of the characters. The family aspect is quite arbitrary, although some of the visuals were nicely done.

The movie, with this idea of a tree being your life line, should've been tackled from a black-comedy perspective. Someone like Terry Gilliam or somebody with a fantasy-realism outlook.

From the 'slapstick' approach the movie stylistically and conventionally took, it would've made more sense for Eddie Murphy's character to be simply stricken with a curse that 'mutes' him, as that would've suited what the filmmakers were going for and allowed for better outrageous incidents.

[–] rissulko 13 years ago

Yeah, the movie has many flaws. But honestly, which movie doesn't? I really loved the plot and finally after long years I really enjoyed watching Eddie acting. His performance was absolutely outstanding, especially when you compare it to that chubby kid with glasses. I don't know but 5.2 seems absolutely ridiculous to me. And after watching 21 Jump Street (which may be a little bit different kind of movie but still) with huge expectations since it has 7.4 I had to leave the theatre after 40 minutes disgusted from what I just saw. So this is not the first time I disagree with IMDb ratings...

[–] Scott-o-bot 13 years ago

All very true, good points... but I have to disagree with the 'mute' concept. Although the tree was probably the wrong way to bring his dilemma to life, he can't be mute if he needs to express important phrases like "thank you, I love you, I forgive you..." because the point wasn't to make him shut up exactly, but rather to emphasize and understand (and to mean) those words with the greatest significance. It may seem contrary to the point of the movie, but he had to speak.

[–] emil-pop 13 years ago

In my opinion this movie is bad because the whole premise of the movie could've been solved by "I have laringitis, I can't speak for three days" and having a real assistant. So because it's so unrealistic, it looks like s stupid and cheap kids move.

[–] styo2 13 years ago

this was one of the WORST ive ever seen...i still cant believe i sat through it....why the hell didnt he just WRITE DOWN THAT HE COULDNT TALK & AVOID ALL THE STUPID NON-FUNNY ANTICS?????

does anybody READ the script BEFORE they agree to do it????

utter shitte!

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 13 years ago

Yeah, but that would amount to COMPLETELY misunderstanding the themes of the film, especially the theme about the power of words, and in conjunction with it, the importance of choosing your words wisely.

The gist of the film isn't "What if you couldn't talk or you'd die--how would YOU handle that in your real life?" That's not at all what it's about.

http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies

[–] Troy2Slick 13 years ago

Because there wouldn't have been a movie otherwise, duh?

Common sense, please.

[–] Prismark10 12 years ago

It does seem a strange clash of dark themes and slapstick.

Its that man again!!

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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