Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

This non-review isn’t rife with jocularity so feel free to skip it if you’re looking for hoots. If you’re interested in knowing of a good movie, please read on.

I’ve not been looking forward to this write-up. The movie was great. It had a lot of powerful lessons that were conveyed in a very effective way which never came off as preachy or contrived. It really was a well done film. But it’s a small budget production (comparatively) and there’s not a lot about it that might inspire someone to watch it who prefers bigger more grandiose productions. It’s quaint in a good way.

Granted, I suppose it’s not my goal to inspire people to watch a film they would normally dismiss. I love large productions too but I feel there are lots of good movies that get overlooked because they’re a lesser known small production that doesn’t involve aliens or super heroes.

Words by Heart starts with a young girl (Fran Robinson) in the early 1900s living with her family in a midwestern town after recently moving there. While the girl seems naïve to the notions of prejudice, her father (Robert Hooks) is all too familiar but hopeful to have left it behind with the recent move. While the prevalence of prejudice is seemingly lessened in this new location, there are a few individuals who are still not so welcoming to them. The question is, does everyone feel the same way as these select few?

At first it’s hard to tell. The girl demonstrates an aptitude for memorization and performs exceptionally well in a competition. Her talents not having yet been recognized by the town, a well known local boy was believed to be a shoe-in for the winner. The solitary prize for this competition reflected this and was geared specifically for him. Naturally the girl was not interested in a bow tie as a prize. The new family had to wonder if this was the result of prejudice or just a fluke.

As a possible indication of the latter, the girl’s father gets a job working for a lonely but wealthy elderly lady (Charlotte Rae, The Facts of Life) which puts out one of the more prejudiced individuals. This gives the family hope that maybe things are different here but the fellow who essentially lost out on the job is not happy and retaliation seems imminent. At the same time, the girl is invited to work for the lady as well and is permitted to read her many books. Problems arise when the girl accidentally destroys a book.

I won’t spoil this. The ending is a very powerful message of loving our enemies especially when it comes at great difficulty. I am overcome with emotion even now as I write. I highly recommend this film. It won’t wow you with effects but it’s very well done. Sometimes I joke that a film’s writing “isn’t Shakespeare” but it’s still enjoyable. This is by no means a classic piece of literature made into film but it’s well written and well acted and just well executed all around.