'The Words' Trailer: Bradley Cooper Steals Jeremy Irons' Life Story

One Sundance premiere this year was The Words, in which struggling writer Bradley Cooper finds fame based on a story he took from Jeremy Irons' past. The film is from Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal (who are counted among the writers of Tron Legacy) and has some appealing ideas, as shown in this new trailer.

In the footage below, you'll see some of the supporting cast (Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, J.K. Simmons, and Ben Barnes) and a whole lot of hand-wringing from Cooper, as he moves from one sort of desperation into a mindset plagued by a far more intense worry.

I like this trailer quite a lot until that godawful song kicks in after Jeremy Irons gets his moment on the bench. Suddenly what looked like an interesting intellectual thriller is downgraded to something that could be a mystery from a moonlighting Nicholas Sparks. Perhaps that's for the best, since reviews out of Sundance were mixed. Germain liked it more than most, offering,

...humans are responsible for their decisions, especially the bad ones. And all the characters in The Words make bad decisions. It's a simple, straightforward message delivered with skill and precision. The score keeps the pace and intensity while each of the actors, more a part of an ensemble rather than a featured player, compliment each other nicely.

Yahoo has the trailer. The Words opens on September 21st, 2012.

Rory Jansen, a struggling writer, aspires to be the next great literary voice. When he discovers a lost manuscript in a weathered attaché case, he realizes he possesses something extraordinary that he desperately wishes he had created. Rory decides to pass the work off as his own and finally receives the recognition he desperately craves. However, he soon learns that living with his choice will not be as easy as he thought as he faces a moral dilemma that will make him take a hard look at the man he has become.