tieman64 Isabel Coixet's "The Secret Life of Words" stars Sarah Polley as a withdrawn, scarred, hearing impaired factory worker who volunteers to work on an oil rig. There she takes care of a character played by Tim Robbins, who is suffering from severe burns and temporary blindness.The film overindulges in monologues, and is too reminiscent of Oscar-baiting fare like "Sophie's Choice" and "The English Patient", but Polley turns in another excellent performance. She seems to specialise in giving good performances in films which should be better.The idea of a lonely girl on an oil-rig in the middle of the ocean is very good, and lends itself to all kinds of interesting possibilities, but Coixet can't milk these possibilities. Too often her film drifts toward conventional melodrama and familiar plot points. Still, the film boasts some fine ambiance, another raw, generous performance by Polley, and a likable cast of characters, all of whom turn to isolation and self-imposed exile as a means of shielding themselves from pain and trauma. One interesting subplot deals with an environmentalist who essentially cares so much that the world itself seems to have forced him out, turning him into a shipwrecked non citizen.7.9/10 – Wastes a good premise. This story could have been taken down a range of far more interesting avenues. Worth one viewing.

tedg This is what Cassavedes thinks of as simple and direct theater, a pipeline to emotions.The idea is to simplify, presumably to purify. We have a remote oil rig with two full characters and a handful of surrounding beings. Our man (played by Tim Robbins) is temporarily blind, burned literally and figuratively: he was burned unsuccessfully trying to save a man he cuckolded from committing suicide. He is nursed by a character played by Sarah Polley, who has a tortured past.She knows how to work with the purpose of a film, and when that purpose it to turn things over to the actors, she really turns it on. This actually works as intended for the first two thirds, where the narrative doesn't exist and we just settle between these two. The situations and container are extreme, but we tie into the universal emotions that are raised here.Unfortunately, towards the end, narrative takes over and we leave the world of connected emotions and enter the world of a story that must find its end. He, now sighted tracks her down, and appeals to a future in love regardless of the certain pain. This may make for a happy, even acceptable ending, but it is not the experience we invested in.As if to assert that story trumps connectedness, the filmmaker goes the extraordinary distance to tell us how the story ends for every single character we met on that oilrig. Sometimes the filmmaker doesn't have a clue.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

georgejbennett In her daily routine as a factory worker and city dweller the dissociated Hannah portrays a torture survivor's shame. She has withdrawn to a safe place within herself, frequently turns off her hearing aid, and does not interact with co-workers or her environment. Co-workers have complained to Hannah's supervisor about her behavior. He praises Hannah for her work habits and her consistency over her four years at the factory then directs her to take a month's vacation.During her vacation on the coast of Ireland she overhears a phone conversation about a burn victim on an offshore oil drilling platform who needs round-the-clock nursing care on the platform until he is stable enough to make the trip to the burn center. We learn that Hannah is a trained nurse who has worked in a burn center as she finds it within herself to react to this victim's need and agrees to provide the necessary care for the 2 week stabilization period.After a short helicopter flight and a brief introduction to her temporarily blinded burn patient she begins the tasks of cleaning, feeding, and providing medical care. They awkwardly make conversation. Through the labor of each conversation and the effort of each interaction we learn a little more about them. In time, they are able to connect to poignantly share their survivor's stories and then their shame. They are able to provide one another with a critical human support element that is necessary for each to move on with their lives just before Josef, the burn victim, is transported to the burn clinic.Well into his recovery Josef is released from the burn clinic at which time he is given a backpack (Hannah's backpack) that was inadvertently checked in with his personal property. He reluctantly accepts it and leaves the clinic. Then Josef meets with the wife of a co-worker who died in the fire on the offshore oil platform to bring closure to this part of his life. Afterwards, he begins his search for Hannah, his nurse.Josef searches for Hannah from addresses found on letters in her backpack. His search takes him to Copenhagen where we learn more about Hannah from an Amnesty International Worker who provides counseling to torture victims. He then travels to her town in Ireland where he finds her outside of the factory. With much trepidation, each re-connects with their humanity and with one another.This movie tells a story that contrasts the worst of human behavior against the best of human behavior in a way that engages us at the very core of our being. .

samkan Why is this woman so depressed? TSLOW does a great job of holding your interest on this mystery. Countless films try to hook you with this question (many with more lavish or exciting circumstances) but few succeed. TSLOW pulls it off and makes excellent use of setting; i.e., the lonely oil rig is a great idea. Although I correctly guessed at the source of Hanna's sorrow - the accent gave it away - I was no less captivated by her account. Tim Robbins does his usual fine performance. I don't know if the writer/director intended it, but Hanna's ordeal had the interesting effect of trumping the burn victim's problems, sort of like the moral, "I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet." The film could have been excellent had the Hollywood crowd pleaser ending been changed. I would have been saddened but more appreciative if; e.g., Robbins had walked away from the shrink's office, understanding when to leave tragedy alone.