A Thousand Words (2012)
Let’s just get this out of the way … Eddie Murphy made millions of dollars without speaking one word in the film, A Thousand Words. Put those hands together and clap for this! Getting the bag is always something that Murphy (or anyone) should be proud of. What he can’t be proud of is how bad A Thousand Words was as a movie. Despite the idea of a muted Murphy being quite comical on its own, it’s not enough to carry the entire film. With this in mind, movie critic Candice Frederick of Reel Talk Online regarded the film as “a disastrous comedy at times, with a few unexpected touching moments sprinkled throughout, A Thousand Words fails to come together like it should, and becomes a forgettable mess.” A.A. Dowd of Time Out said, “The high concept breeds lowbrow gags.”
This film performed poorly at the box office. Despite a budget of $40 million, the film only grossed a total of $22 million. However, the effort wasn’t a total waste. Rotten Tomato managed to find something to appreciate and the film earned the “Moldy Tomato” award for the worst-reviewed film of 2012.