What would you do if you went to the doctors and discovered that you only had 1500 words left to live? What would you say? Are some words more important than others?
Stanley Franks is told by his doctor he has only 1500 words left to live. To keep himself alive, he has to use as few words as possible. But with his marriage in the balance, it’s a difficult battle.
This dark comedy has an unusual premise, one that can skew surreal or slapstick, depending on the treatment. But director Andrew Chaplin uses the set-up to explore relationships, communication and connection, making for a film that’s alternately charming, funny and heartbreaking all at once.
“1500 Words” has its darkly comic moments, but with a dryly funny voiceover, excellent performances all around and deft camerawork to capture it all, it also hits real moments of empathy and vulnerability.
The result is a memorable, entertaining film whose emotional core is highly recognizable and relatable, making for a story that resonates well after its jokes and laughs land. Having only a few words left to live might be an outlandish situation to play out on screen, but it’s also an interesting thought experiment to apply to one’s own life.
