Jack McCall, played by Eddie Murphy, finds an unusual tree in his yard after an encounter with a spiritual guru. After discovering that with each word he speaks, a leaf drops off of the tree, Jack refuses to speak at all, as doing so will keep the tree, and him, alive. However, his work, marriage, and friendships are all affected by his choice. Can Jack figure out an alternative method of survival? Or will he simply have to live the rest of his life to the fullest? Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) is a literary agent who uses his mouth to get various book deals, and isnt afraid to stretch the truth to get them. While trying to get a book deal from a new-age self-help guru named Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis), the Boddhi sees through the lies and curses Jack by magically appearing in his backyard with 1000 leaves. Jack was sent a catalog by Dr.Sinja and demands an explanation also include the Boddhi Tree. Dr.Sinja goes to Jack's house and explains that for every word that Jack says, a leaf will fall off of the tree. When the tree runs out of leaves, the tree will die, along with Jack. In time, he finds that even written words count towards his limit, plus anything that happens to the Tree will also affect Jack. When Jack tries to cut it down with an axe, an axe wound appears on him. When squirrels climb the tree, it tickles him. When a gardener tries to poison it with DDT, Jack gets high on the fumes.With Jack forced to pick and choose his words, communicating with others becomes difficult and full of misunderstandings. These misunderstandings cost him two book deals, his job, and his wife Caroline (Kerry Washington). She walks out on him when she thinks his sudden silence is due to him not loving her anymore. When he tries to explain the tree to her, she doesnt believe him. Only Jacks assistant Aaron (Clark Duke) realizes he is telling the truth, and goes to Jacks house to keep track of how many leaves are remaining.With his life falling apart and the tree running out of leaves, Jack goes to Dr. Sinja and asks how to end the curse. The guru tells him to make peace with all of his relationships. With just one branch of leaves left, Jack tries to reconcile with Caroline, but shes still hesitant towards him. He visits his mother (Ruby Dee), who lives in an assisted living center and has dementia. She tells Jack who she thinks is Raymond, Jacks late father that she wishes Jack would stop being angry at his father for walking out on them when he was a kid. Jack, realizing that this is the relationship that needs the most mending, goes to visit his fathers gravesite. With only 3 leaves remaining, Jack forgives his dad. With 0 leaves remaining, Jack collapses and appears to have died.Jacks cellphone rings, and its Aaron. He tells him that the trees leaves have magically reappeared. Jack, who is still alive, asks if any leaves are falling off, and they are not. Jack can now talk freely again. It works and they get back together. He doesnt get his job back (Aaron was promoted to Jacks old position), but he wrote a book about the experience and gets Aaron to make the deal. Aaron later receive a branch of the Boddhi tree when his new assistant Steven informed him that there is a delivery for him, resulting to Aaron being shocked at the moment.Jack makes a last ditch effort to get back Caroline by buying the house she always wanted and he did, they both smiled as their child spoke his very first words "boom".

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rgkarim from United States
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Let's face it Eddy Murphy hasn't been making grade A movies over the past few years, at least none that matched his earlier films. So I can't help but admit that I was a little skeptical when I saw A Thousand Words advertised on T.V. To my surprise however, I was actually entertained with this picture, and even more surprised by the serious message present in this film. So sit back, relax, and read more about Eddy Murphy's newest film A Thousand Words.

The movie basically starts out like any other movie he stars in with Eddy Murphy, playing Jack McCall, being involved in some busy career and the rest of his life is essentially put on hold. As usual, these opening scenes are filled with his classic crude humor, some of which was funny for me and some I had heard countless times before. Murphy's mouth is as filthy as ever, and those who love hearing him scream and curse will not be disappointed at the majority of his dialog at the beginning of the movie. However, things change when the guru Sinja (Cliff Curtis) is visited by McCall and the blood bond between a magical tree and McCall get his thousand word limit, where every word he speaks (and writes) results in a leaf falling off the tree. From this point onward, the comedy style takes a different path and involves a combination of funny dialog, situational comedy, and of course some funny gestures that made me chuckle. With a limited number of words at his disposable, the writers did a nice job picking the right words at the right moment. There were countless times I laughed as he said one or two words at just the right moment to have me laughing. Instead of Murphy saying most of the funny lines though, his apprentice Aaron (Clark Duke) provided most of the zingers. Duke manages to once again play the na�ve, immature teenager who knows how to say the wrong things, at the wrong time, in the most awkward way possible. As a result it works, though it does get annoying after the fifth or sixth time. What was funnier for me however, were the comedic situations Murphy's character was forced to endure. A few charade scenes, the escort of a blind man, and countless business meetings that required him to speak made me crack up at various points in the movie.

However, comedy is not the only thing this movie has to offer. A Thousand Words has a message built into it that really hit me deep down. Now revealing this message would ruin a lot of things about this movie, so I can't tell you what it is. The way they presented the message is free game though, and quite well done. I applaud the director's brilliant technique of building up the tension in the movie using temporary lulls in the comedy to develop the situation. When the limit is reached however, the group manages to capture the emotions with a combination of fitting music, great camera angles, and just the right balance of screen time to capture the actor's emotion. Murphy surprised me with how serious a role he can play and I admit there were one or two times I nearly teared up. Yes there were points where this movie was a little preachy and cheesy, but overall it tugged at my heart strings and made me really appreciate what they had to say. However, it's up to you to see the movie and see if the message affects you the same way.

Overall, A Thousand Words is a decent comedy, not the best or the crudest mind you, but still decent. The nice balance of drama and comedy, on top of some good character development and clever use of props and the environment were very entertaining for me. Yes, it's the same predictable Eddie Murphy movie you have seen in the past, but it's finally getting back to his comedic roots, while still providing some dynamic emotion that I haven't seen him do in a while. Is it worth a trip to the theater? Well for comedy not really, you can get the fun laughs just as well at home. However, the strong spiritual message this movie offers I think is worth a trip, but that's just me. Regardless here are the scores:

Comedy: 6.0 Movie Overall: 7.0

So as always enjoy the movies my friends and tune in next week for a review on 21 Jump Street.

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Diet Bacon Cola from Thailand
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You will find reviews here using thousands of words in order to flame this movie, clearly they didn't understand it. You will know why after seeing it.

People are disappointed because they wanted to see an Eddy Murphy style comedy, the problem is this ain't a comedy it is a drama with a very good message. I loved Eddy Murphy in his first movies, he was a fast talking joke machine, he still is but the jokes are the same and comedy has moved on. For that matter I didn't like the comedy portion of this movie too much but I was deeply touched by the drama version. The solution to his problem is right in front of him and anyone who is willing to give this movie a fair chance will see it too and exactly this is what made the movie so strong because he is doing it all wrong and you want to scream at the screen and tell him what to do and how to do it.

In my opinion Eddy Murphy gave a partially brilliant performance. As I said I didn't enjoy the comedy too much, it was some sort of best of Eddy Murphy but when you are willing to accept that this is actually a drama and understand the comedy part as the metaphor that it is you will love this movie and maybe pull something valuable out of the message. For the concept of the message Eddy Murphy was the best possible actor for this role.

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Shawn from Australia
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I cannot understand why someone would rate this so poorly and call it "an abomination" of a film. These people must like to watch depressing or utter brain dead movies, over heart warming, feel good movies.

Granted this film is not perfect, there are definitely some unnecessary and quite stupid scenes, but this does not detract from the overall moral of the story which makes a powerful philosophical point - a point we must all contemplate.

Eddie Murphy is his funny usual self and the rest of the cast do a great job. Also the cinematography is excellent with some remarkable scenes.

I highly recommend this movie for anyone looking for a meaningful movie. A must watch for all who are positive.

Peace.

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gonzoville from United States
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I have to assume that the people who rated this one below a 5 were expecting the standard slapstick fare. This isn't going to go down as a classic film, but it kind of picks up from "Holy Man" from 1998 in that the movie is about an unexpected encounter causing someone to re- evaluate and embrace their life.

Murphy does a pretty good job straddling comedic and dramatic acting. It's more like one or the other rather than both in the same scene, but it's not bad. The supporting cast is pretty good as well. The writing is decent enough.

What made me give this a 7 instead of a 6 is the ending. You pretty much know what's coming - that Murphy's character will resolve the issues which keep him from being happy. But the last 8 minutes or so are just really well done. Murphy's warmth really shines and you can't help but smile. And for that ending, I gave it an extra star.

Put this in the "feel-good comedy" category.

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tavm from Baton Rouge, La.
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I've been an Eddie Murphy fan since I first saw him on "Saturday Night Live" back in 1980. I've laughed at most of his stuff on TV and movies most of that time. I haven't seen everything he's done but what I've seen I've mostly enjoyed. So it is that I indeed enjoyed this knowing many of the things he does and says in this movie can be quite either silly or stupid but what can I say, I still find him very funny. And Clark Duke who plays his assistant also got plenty of laughs from me especially when he does his version of a street smart person. I also found Kerry Washington appealing as his wife and Ruby Dee as his mother nicely playing someone who seems to live in the past since she keeps mistaking her son for her since-abandoned husband. I thought Allison Janney was wasted as his boss, however. Oh, and I also loved the comic chemistry between him and Jack McBrayer as a Starbucks employee. In summary, A Thousand Words is no great shakes, but it was still entertaining enough for me.

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Perfectionisbeauty from A Man of World
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Have you ever thought which words were the most important and quintessential in our life - "I love you", "Thank you", "Forgive me"? Did you count them? In fact, the words you transmit are so relevant that they are the key "to open the doors" in our life.

Kahlil Gibran said that "all our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind."

Emily Dickinson wrote: "A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day."

Nathaniel Hawthorne stated that "words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them".

Winston Churchill was confident when saying "You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police. Yet in their hearts there is unspoken - unspeakable! - fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts! Words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home, all the more powerful because they are forbidden. These terrify them. A little mouse - a little tiny mouse! - of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic."

At last I've watched this "A Thousand Words" with Eddie Murphy. I did like the idea. There's a powerful message in the last 15-20 minutes of the movie which is on the whole a combination of comedy, rather a farce of rude words and thoughtless actions in the first half, and a serious meditation over the sense of life and meaningful words in the second one. What was the conception? Suppose you get to know that every word you say can become the last one. So you think before it to what to say or be silent. One realizes that words are countable and can not be wasted. Only the words that are crucial and urgent ought to be uttered. The words you hadn't say yet. To your mother, family, people. And you shall say these words even if you know that every single word will near you to death. You regret you haven't done it when there was a plenty of time and now there is only a limit of words that shorten this time to zero as you are in Zeitnot. Perhaps Eddie Murphie wasn't that good in the movie, perhaps it would have been better to have Jim Carrey in it to continue his protagonist of "Liar, Liar" and "Yes-Man" hilarious in their form but thought-provoking in their matter movies. However, the movie is worth seeing.

Lord Byron's (1788-1824) last word was "Goodnight".

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witster18 from United States
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Eddie has been involved in a lot of crap since the release of "Raw". It's almost as if he felt a debt to society and his family to start making cheesy, family films. The results have been under-whelming to say the least.

This is Eddie's best film in many years. The plot is ridiculous as with much of what he's been associated with of late, but Eddie is on top of his game here. This film is right up there with Eddie's best over the last 2 decades WHICH ISN'T saying much, but it does make it worth the price of admission at the very least. That's to say it's nearly as good as "The Nutty Professor" or "Boomerang", but a clear notch above films like "Bowfinger" and "Norbit".

He's genuinely funny here, but the script isn't all that funny overall. He carries much of the weight with his expressions and physical comedy.

The other saving grace is the heart of the film. The film does carry nice message, and tugs the heartstrings for those who make the time investment on this one.

I was surprised, but that might have had as much to do with my expectations as it did anything else.

I can marginally recommend this for those who like a light-hearted comedy.

Eddie still has it! He does! You get glimpses of it here. All us ol'timer's are still waiting for him to tackle a great project with an "R" rating, but this film is far better than it's score here or anywhere else.

Not that I blame the audience - but it seems as if the reputation of Eddie making bad films has put a seriously negative spin on what is actually a decent little film here. Let's not trample on the guy.

My biggest gripe was with one particular scene where the CGI is over-blown and unnecessary but other than that, this film wasn't bad at all.

Scoring it exactly the same as another rental from yesterday, "Thin Ice", 65/100, and rounding it to 7. I don't feel bad about it either.

Not nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

You might like this if you liked: Yes Man(slightly better or even), The Nutty Professor(slightly better or even), and Bruce Almighty(slightly better).

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GoneWithTheTwins from www.GoneWithTheTwins.com
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A Thousand Words starts off like a typical Eddie Murphy film, utilizing his expected blend of physical slapstick, mile-a-minute chatter, and wild-eyed contortionist facial expressions. The humor is derived almost entirely from awkward communications between Murphy and his acquaintances. But when the plot is well under way and the predicament becomes serious, the film takes a turn toward a sentimental, emotional drama, where the hero must right his wrongs and make amends with his past. It's as if the script was already in place, Murphy signed on, then rewrites shaped the movie into a vehicle for his unmistakable style (it probably doesn't help that filmmaker Brian Robbins also directed Meet Dave and Norbit). While the result is certainly not unwatchable, the mood is rather muddied and the laughs are never big.

Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) is a literary agent for the Apogee company, using his signature rapid-fire articulation to negotiate moneymaking deals. His sights are set on the "New Age crap" of Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis), whose philosophies and teachings are attracting crowds greater than those of Miley Cyrus concerts. It's a spiritual movement and McCall wants to be the one to sign the guru to a highly profitable new book deal. Shortly after his encounter with Sinja, Jack discovers that a Bodhi tree has sprouted in his back yard and that it sheds leaves quite rapidly � one for every word he utters. Mysteriously, the trunk has a magical connection to the agent's body, preventing Jack from chopping it down. The calm, watchful, pie-eating sage hypothesizes that when the woody perennial drops its last leaf, McCall will die.

There's a glaring error early on that is so blatant it's hard to ignore it. The major plot gimmick relies on McCall desperately not wanting to talk. When he writes a note to his sleeping wife, each written word also causes a leaf to fall. Infuriated, he flips off the tree, which results in an identical reaction. As soon as it's defined that a crude gesture affects the tree in the same manner as talking, the whole idea falls apart. Every subsequent effort taken by Jack to communicate is through some sort of expressive movement, whether it be a frantic form of Charades, furious countenance spasms, or tempestuous howling. Yet the tree doesn't lose foliage to these commotions. If the movie played by its own rules, he would be dead by the end of the day.

Even if the inherent silliness of the story can be brushed aside, the uncertainty with which the fantasy unfolds is disheartening. Strong messages of spirituality, examining the importance of words, miscommunication, forgiveness, being true to oneself, taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of life, and accepting inner peace are temporarily poignant, but interfere with the initial onslaught of jokes. While it's a fun premise with clement humor (and a few smartly indelicate gags by Clark Duke as McCall's dimwitted assistant, who proves a favorably contrasting comedic counterpart for Murphy), it can only end one way � with overly formulaic contrivances sorting out the dilemmas of a man trapped in the structure of conventional relationships and success.

- The Massie Twins (GoneWithTheTwins.com)

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bebop603 from United States
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This movie was reminiscent of Eddies Murphy's "Trading Places" for me. It's kind of a modern fable/comedy/light social commentary. In both movies, Murphy's character is a successful businessman who is a little lost personally and spiritually (which is an immediately recognizable sensation for almost anyone at some point in their lives). External, and vaguely spiritual forces intervene (in the Case of Trading places, 2 bosses who take their roles from God and Satan from the story of Job) and in the case of 1000 words, this external force takes the form a new- age spiritual guru played by Cliff Curtis. New-age spiritual guru roles are traditionally played for laughs, but Curtis displays some comedic- inspired subtle turns here and the film overall displays a surprising sensitivity towards spiritual matters in general. As in trading places, Murphy's character has problems to overcome, difficult decisions to make, and ultimately has the chance to complete a personal and spiritual transformation of his own.

The writing is not Oscar-worthy and at times low-brow but (at least to me) frequently hilarious--especially in scenes where Murphy's silence draws people in to saying things about themselves they really weren't intending to. As in other Murphy movies, there is some gentle social commentary and nerdy white people are often played for laughs--Murphy's assistant is especially hilarious as he inverts the common logic of the uncool/uptight white guy at times to assume a "gangsta" persona to take over Murphy's job duties while Murphy can only watch, wide-eyed, as the silent straight man.

This film ultimately won me over with it's good-natured, intelligent, writing and acting. Comedy bits, while while often off-color, never steer into the clich�d or mean-spirited. Don't go in expecting too much and you might leave the theater with a warm, if slightly fuzzy, spiritual feeling of you own.

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patsworld from United States
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This movie could have been a winner � much like The Golden Child � for Eddy Murphy. The premise for this film could have gone there � mystical, imaginative...the plot line lent itself to such success. However, rather than using Murphy's awesome comedic talent, the makers of this picture resorted to reducing him to grimaces, hideous facial contortions � none of which were amusing at all. Granted there was a reason in the movie for Murphy's character not to be able to talk for awhile, but he could easily have performed versions of charades, used eye rolls and raised eyebrows and brought the house down. However, that didn't happen. It was all over the top and not funny at all. The only character in this picture to do justice to his part was Clark Duke playing Murphy's assistant. This wasn't enough to make the film a success. Such a waste and frankly, I'm rather tired of being disappointed when I go to the movies. Especially to an Eddy Murphy film. I expect more.

Filmed in 2008, not released until 2012.
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After a disastrous US opening, a UK cinema release for the film was dropped, despite cinemas and trailers advertising its release. The film was released direct-to-video, as it was in several other European countries.
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Famous French actor/director Alain Chabat serves as a producer as well as making an appearance as the French Businessman. Chabat dubbed Shrek's voice in French, and in this movie he shares screen time with Donkey's original voice actor (Eddie Murphy himself of course). Later on, Murphy holds a doll with the likeness of Austin Powers, who is played by Shrek's English voice Mike Myers.
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When Jack shows Aaron his situation with the tree, he dismisses it as a coincidence to which Jack responds, "It's not a coincidence, you idiot." Aaron notices that the tree lost five more leaves, even though Jack said six words.
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(at around 1h 3 mins) In the restaurant when Jack and Dr Sinja are talking, the woman behind the Dr, her hair changes from untied to tied and back to untied again throughout the shot.
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(at around 53 mins) After Jack gets in the elevator with a semi-naked man, a black town car drives off. A boom mic and crew member are reflected in the car's right rear quarter panel.
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liar|literary agent|magical tree|box office flop|critically bashed|three word title|title spoken by character|number in title|

AKAs Titles:
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title) - Хил�да д�ƒми
Brazil - As Mil Palavras
Germany - Noch Tausend Worte
Spain - Mil palabras
France - Mille mots
Greece (DVD title) - Mono hilies lexeis
Hungary - Ezer sz�
Italy - Una bugia di troppo
Lithuania - Tukstantis zodziu
Peru - M�s que mil palabras
Portugal - Mil Palavras
Serbia - Hiljadu re�i
Russia - Т�‹���‡а �лов
Slovenia - Tisoc besed

Release Dates:


Certifications:
Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) / Canada:G (Quebec) / Germany:o.Al. / Ireland:12A / Malaysia:PG-13 / Netherlands:6 / Singapore:PG13 / South Korea:15 / Spain:T / UK:12A / USA:PG-13 (certificate #45551)