Words and Pictures - C

Rated PG-13, 111 minutes

Love the leads, but contrived "Words and Pictures" fails to connect

"Words and Pictures" is a glossy, mildly engaging though contrived romantic comedy. With two immensely likable, watchable leads, "Words and Pictures" has a flimsy, silly storyline that somehow wants you to believe these two opposites would actually fall in love. Prep school English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) laments his students' obsession with social media and good grades rather than engaging with the power of the written word. A one-time literary star, Jack has not published in years filling his spare time with drink versus the art of language. He meets his match in Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche) - an abstract painter and new teacher on campus, who was once celebrated for her art. From the start, the two flirt and provoke each other while falling for each other. Directed by Fred Schepisi ("Empire Falls") and written by Gerald DiPego ("Angel Eyes"), the best thing about it are the attractive stars, especially Oscar-winner Binoche, who could bewitch by simply reading the phone book. Owen is also nice, though as written, his character is one of the most annoying of recent memory, with incessant definitions of words and the grating syllable games he plays throughout the film. Both Owen and Binoche give it their all, and while Owen has the most affecting monologue, it's Binoche who easily walks away with the movie, complete with lovely artwork in tow. The glossy "Words and Pictures" wants to be an opposites-attract, tit-for-tat slightly humorous affair, but it ends up a plodding, labored affair that would be much harder to take with less talented actors. It struggles to find a real identity and loses itself behind some unnecessary subplots that add little to the texture of the film, which in fact has little to say (except until the end) or make any real connection to its "Words and Pictures." A disappointment considering everyone involved, though I could watch the radiant Binoche in just about anything (if you blink, you'll miss her in the recent big-budget "Godzilla" remake).

Wes's Grade: C