Word Wars (2004)

Absolutely Fantastic

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

This film is about a small group of professional Scrabble players. Well, professional in that they play in tournaments for money and occasionally play each other for money, though the money they actually win is almost always minimal--certainly in most cases NOT enough to pay rent or have a family. Despite this very limited payoff, these folks travel the country participating in very, very serious games--at least as serious as any high-stakes poker game! As a psychology teacher, I probably got a lot more out of this documentary than the average person. That's because instead of focusing on the games, I was fascinated by the personalities of the players, as the elite players were NOTHING like I'd expected. I had expected that they would all be great intellectuals--such as professors, Nobel Prize winners and brainiacs. However, the opposite was usually the case. Many were unemployed or worked dead-end jobs. None of them were successful in a traditional sense with jobs or family. Instead, the players were usually misfits--people lacking social graces, having severe personality disorders, filled with anger and in a few cases the players seemed on the edge of sanity. How this game dominates their lives and thinking is amazing and all-consuming--and it's truly an obsession. For the most part, I found the players to be very unlikable (especially, but certainly NOT excluding Marlon) and lacking a fully formed personality--and, interestingly enough, this didn't seem to bother these hyper-competitive players. I was also surprised to see that many didn't even seem to like the game--and one, in particular, was physically miserable during the tournaments! Yet they still played--day in and day out even though there was almost no financial compensation for doing this--even with the top players!! Fascinating, but also ultimately very sad.By the way, the language is pretty rough in spots--parents might want to think about this before letting kids watch this documentary.

I just watched "Word Wars", which is about tournament Scrabble players. I really enjoyed "Spellbound", a similar documentary about the national spelling bee contest, which also tracks the trajectories of 4 competitors, so I thought I'd be equally enlightened. The Scrabble enthusiasts turn out to be largely unemployed, geeky, and with limited social skills. The game has consumed their lives, and they spend almost every waking minute memorizing anagrams for given sets of letters. (Did you know that Narcoleptic is an anagram for Eric Clapton?) Making matters worse, the top prize in the national Scrabble competition is $25,000; smaller competitions pay far less. Not a lot of money is at stake, so most of the "pros" scrape by on a meager existence (usually living off their families.) One of the film's subjects explained that his brain was now conditioned for one purpose, and that he had no other skills or abilities, and thus could not contribute to society in any meaningful way. Rather than making me more interested in the game, it somewhat horrified me; it seemed more like crystal meth or crack cocaine in its debilitating drug-like effects on those smitten with it. I actually would recommend the film; I did find it fascinating to watch, but at the same time I was depressed by it.Perhaps the most poignant moment in the film occurs when one of the film's subjects (the one who previously explained that he was no longer capable of any socially or economically redeeming activity, someone racked with medical ills brought on by the anxiety of his condition) sits at a piano, and in a perfectly beautiful voice accompanies himself as he sings the Lennon/McCartney song: Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, They slither while they pass, They slip away across the universe. Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting thorough my open mind, Possessing and caressing me.Jai guru deva om, Nothing's gonna change my world...And by the way: The Q without U words accepted in the U. S. Scrabble list are: QAT, QAID, QOPH, FAQIR, QANAT, TRANQ, QINDAR, QINTAR, QWERTY, SHEQEL, QINDARKA, and SHEQALIM (alternate plural of SHEQEL). The combined US/UK list (SOWPODS) adds (from Chambers Dictionary), with their plurals: BUQSHA, BURQA, INQILAB, MBAQANGA, MUQADDAM, QABALAH, QADI, QAIMAQAM, QALAMDAN, QASIDA, QI, QIBLA, QIGONG, QINGHAOSU, QIS, QIVIUT, QWERTIES, QWERTYS, SUQ, TALAQ, TRANQ, TSADDIQIM, TSADDIQ, TZADDIQIM, TZADDIQ, UMIAQ, WAQF, and YAQONA. If you'd like to spend your waking hours memorizing useless crap like this, take up a Scrabble addiction.Otherwise, watch "Word Wars".

Anyone who has enjoyed a game of Scrabble will enjoy this movie. The Scrabble champions depicted in the movie (real people, not actors) play a game unlike any you're likely to find in the family living room. Words you've never heard of are so common in their games that you almost want to have a dictionary by your side while viewing the film. The only thing stranger than the words are the contenders themselves. "Neurotic", "self-centered", and "compulsive" are a few of the words that can be used to describe them. But, you can't help but watch them--kinda like watching a train wreck in some ways.If you are in the category of "Scrabble enjoyers", you will also like the book "Word Freak" by Stefan Fatsis (the book, in fact, is the genesis for the idea of the film).

Word Wars, a comical documentary that traces the lives and study habits of four Scrabble enthusiasts, is fun and interesting from the beginning. Eric Chaikin, the brilliant writer and director, uses awesome, eye-catching graphics in the opening credits. From there, we are introduced to the "characters", each of whom has a unique, intriguing lifestyle. The film teaches the Scrabble basics, and draws the audience into the fun and competitiveness on the Scrabble circuit. We see the players as they train for the National Scrabble championships. Whether studying by means of meditation, or by means of playing endless games of Scrabble and memorizing volumes of words, all the players share a profound love for the game. I absolutely loved Word Wars. I loved the intense competition, and I loved the comical presentation of the Scrabble Circuit. Word Wars is a must see!