A Thousand Words 🎥 2012 Movie Info

Plot Summary

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 but agrees to the deal. That night, a Bodhi Tree appears in Jack’s backyard, so he assumes it’s a gift from Dr. Sinja. The next day, Jack discovers that Sinja has written a five-page book and goes to confront him. After Jack mentions the bodhi tree, Dr. Sinja goes to his house and they discover that for every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls off.

When it runs out of leaves, it will die, as will Jack. He finds that even written words and gestured 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. She doesn’t believe him when he tries to explain the tree to her. 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.

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