Words and Pictures

I have seen romantic comedies many times over and the majority of them are written with extreme predictability and laden with two-dimensional characters. I almost gave up on these type of films until I went to see "Words and Pictures".

An extremely unconventional, outspoken English teacher, Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) and a new stoic art teacher, Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche) collide at an upscale honors prep school. To give you an example, during a break in the teacher's lounge where Jack and fellow teacher Walt (Bruce Davison) have 'word wars', Jack decides to throw some word wars at Dina whereas she practically ignores him. Subsequently through Jack's charms, a high-spirited courtship begins and she finds herself enjoying the battle. Another battle they begin has the students attempting to prove which is more powerful and effective in communicating with one another, the word or the picture. However the true war is against their own demons, as these two troubled souls struggle for connection. With what and/or whom is this connection with they are striving for?

Others to round out the cast are David Negahban as Rashid, Amy Brenneman as Espeth, Valerie Tan as Emily, Adam DiMarco as Swint, Josh Ssettuba as Cole Patterson, Janet Kidder as Sabine, Christian Scheider as Tony, Jack's son, and Keegan Connor Tracy as Ellen.

This was directed by an artist that has an extremely eclectic resume. I call Fred Schepisi the chameleon director. His resume speaks for itself: ("Barbarosa" '82, "Iceman" '84, "Plenty" '85, "Roxanne" '87, "A Cry in the Dark" '88, "The Russia House" '90, "Mr. Baseball" '92, "Six Degrees of Separation" '93, "I.Q." '94, "Fierce Creatures" '97, "Last Orders" '01, "It Runs in the Family" '03, "Empire Falls" (TV movie) '05, "The Eye of the Storm" '11). The way Schepisi was able to emit an unusual way of connecting the two characters was refreshing and unique. Kudos to a real pro. It was written by Gerald Dipego and with the exception of a couple of very small places in script where it got a bit bogged down, the way these two characters were developed where they were clearly mismatched, but at times were not was incredibly talented writing. This was a romantic comedy with a dramatic angst, where Jack and Dina were real, but clearly dysfunctional. This made this definitely deeper and more fulfilling than the typical mediocrity that Hollywood doles out.

If you like romantic comedies with more substance than you're used to watching, this is the film for you. This way you learn a viable lesson all the while being entertained with something funny and with quality, and isn't this something we all strive to see in films anyway?

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                           Rated: PG-13                              111mins.