A Thousand Words

What if you only have a thousand words left? And what will matters most to you?

A Thousand Words is a comedy-drama film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Brian Robbins released on March 9, 2012. Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) is a fast-talking literary agent, who uses his 'gift of gab' to get various book deals, any time and any way.

One morning, Jack finds an unusual Bodhi tree with a thousand leaves mysteriously appears in his backyard after an encounter with a spiritual guru, Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis). With every word Jack utters, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. In time, he finds that even written words count towards his limit; plus anything that happens to the tree will also affect him. When Jack tries to cut it down with an axe, an axe wound appears on him. When squirrels climb on the tree, it tickles him. When a gardener tries to poison it with DDT and Jack gets high on the fumes.

Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he's got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he's a goner. His choice of words communicating with others becomes difficult and have affected in his career, work, marriage with his wife Caroline (Kerry Washington) and friendships.

With his life falling apart and the tree running out of leaves, Jack goes to Dr. Sinja and asks how to end the curse. The guru tells him to make peace in all of his relationships. With just one branch of leaves left, Jack tries to reconcile with Caroline and visits his mother (Ruby Dee), who lives in an assisted-living center and has dementia. She tells Jack, who she thinks is Jack’s late father Raymond, that she wishes Jack would stop being angry at his father for walking out on them when he was a kid. Jack, realizing that this is the relationship that needs the most mending and goes to visit his father’s grave. Jack expends the last three leaves of the tree with the words, "I forgive you". With no leaves remaining, Jack collapses and appears to have died.

You never know if 
the last time you see someone is going to be 
the last time you ever see someone.

Movie Trailer: