Movie Review: "Words And Pictures"

"Words And Pictures": B.  Unlike many romantic comedies, the lead players in Words And Pictures do not "meet cute."  He, Jack Marcus (Clive Owen), is a too-sure-of-himself honors English teacher at Croyden Prep School, a high falutin' institution where the students wear uniforms and address their teachers as peers. The principal's office would make most Fortune 500 execs proud, and the one board member we meet (Amy Brenneman) looks like she came straight from the Lafayette Club.  Marcus' cockiness is not limited to the classroom.  It carries over into the faculty break room, where not all of his colleagues warm to his loud monopolization of the conversation.  He is sharp enough to sense this, which makes him continue the conduct even longer.

She, renown artist Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche), is a veteran honors art teacher who is new to Croyden. As she informs her students on her very first day, she is not there to acquire their friendship or become anyone's confidant.  Her sole role is to instruct.  She demands a lot from her students, and none of the prep schoolers object; they are serious scholars with Ivy League college ambitions.

Delsanto's strictly business persona applies equally to her faculty relationships.  It takes Marcus less than a minute to figure that out when Delsanto enters the faculty lounge for the first time.  He tries to engage her in his pet word game, but she will have none of it.  She tells him point blank that she expects to be able to lounge when she's in the lounge, without being inconvenienced or annoyed by small talk.  He does not back off -- ever -- during the entire story.

We know from the trailers, if not the title and movie posters, that a philosophical debate over the relative merits of language compared to art is a key element to the plot.  Before deciding to see this movie, I had my doubts as to how convincing any script purporting to stage such a contest involving an entire high school's student body could be.  Director Fred Schipisi and writer Gerald Di Pego proved me wrong.  Marcus and Delsanto are so passionate about their fields, so dynamic in their classrooms, and so good coaching and inspiring their charges that when dozens of teenagers are wrapped up in the discussion, it does not come off as phony.  The kids' general enthusiasm struck me as real.  Part of their enthusiasm is provoked by Marcus and Delsanto. He tells his students, "Words are your gods."  She counters with, "Words are traps."

Of course this wouldn't be a rom-com if there were no spark between the "warring" adults.  Owen gets the benefit of having the more dynamic character with the better lines.  His wit, humor and charm are endearing to a point, but all are counterbalanced by his alcoholism (which we witness early on) and by a surprise ethical lapse which turns the story on its ear.  As for Binoche, well, she is simply one of my favorite actresses.  I have seen many movies in which the chemistry between the two lead actors was more palpable, but any viewer of Words And Pictures would surely recognize that he was watching two accomplished masters of the silver screen.

In addition to the battles of the sexes and the subjects, there are a few side stories interspersed throughout the film.  Some are more successfully told than others.  For example, many minutes are devoted to the bullying and harrassment of one of the female students, Emily (Valerie Tian), by a male classmate.  This element's main purpose, I believe, is to furnish an opportunity for the usually bickering Marcus and Delsanto to join forces.  While there is no denying that bullying is one of the hottest (and most offensive) issues confronting youngsters today, the film's depiction of the related episodes, as well as the resolution, are poorly done. On the other hand, the scenes involving Marcus and his college age son, Tony (Christian Scheider), are extremely well written and acted.  Scheider is excellent as a young man who loves his father, notwithstanding the latter's worsening alcoholism, while at the same time being careful to protect his own space from intrusion and embarrassment at the hands of his father.

This movie has been playing in a first-run theater, the Edina, for almost two months.  The matinee I attended over the weekend was fairly well attended.  Apparently there are a lot of folks who enjoy rom-coms featuring two fine actors playing very smart characters with sometimes witty and usually clever dialogue.