A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words is a 2012 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Brian Robbins from a script by Steve Koren, co-produced by Nicolas Cage, and starring Eddie Murphy. It was released in theaters on March 9, 2012, four years after it was filmed. Critics panned the film as formulaic and outdated, and for miscasting Eddie Murphy in a mostly silent role. It is currently one of a small number of films with a 0% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It was also a box office bomb, having grossed just $22 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. As of 2023, it is the last film directed by Robbins, and it was Murphy's last film for four years, until he appeared in the 2016 independent film Mr. Church. Plot Literary agent Jack McCall uses his "gift of gab" to get various book deals, and he is not afraid to stretch the truth to get them. While he is trying to get a deal from New Age self-help guru Dr. Sinja, he sees through Jack's deceit and agrees to the deal, only to later deliver a five-page book. That night, a Bodhi Tree appears in Jack's backyard. Dr. Sinja goes to his house and they discover that for every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls off of the tree. When the tree runs out of leaves, it will die, as will Jack. He finds that even written words and gestures towards words count towards his limit; plus anything that happens to the tree also affects him. When Jack tries to cut it down with an axe, a 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 and when the gardener tries to water it, Jack starts to sweat and perspire profusely. With Jack forced to choose his words carefully, communication becomes difficult and full of misunderstandings. These cost him two book deals, his job, his wife Caroline and his son, Tyler. 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 doesn't believe him. Only Jack's assistant Aaron Weisberger realizes he is telling the truth, and goes to his house to keep track of how many leaves remain. Jack tries to break the curse by being a better person by giving food to the homeless, and donating some of his money to charity, but that plan fails. Jack drinks a lot of alcohol in the night, causing him to sing a lot, thus making the tree lose most of its leaves.