Rory（Bradley Cooper 飾）雖然一直在努力寫作，卻從未得到出版社的青睞，時(shí)不時(shí)還要靠父親的接濟(jì)度日。在與新婚妻子Dora（Zoe Saldana 飾）去巴黎度蜜月時(shí)，Dora在二手店買了一個(gè)書稿包。Rory偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了里面的一份舊小說手稿，內(nèi)容深深吸引了他。最后他把小說占為己有并出版，終于讓他一舉成名，成為文學(xué)界的新銳。而一個(gè)神秘的老人（Jeremy Irons 飾）突然出現(xiàn)，告訴Rory自己才是小說的作者，并給他講述了一個(gè)小說中發(fā)生在巴黎的真實(shí)愛情故事。面對(duì)這一切，Rory有了無法逃遁的負(fù)罪感。他會(huì)把成功當(dāng)作理所當(dāng)然，還是一場(chǎng)道德考驗(yàn)？

《妙筆生花》（The Words）講述的就是這樣一個(gè)故事。影片中有三條主線：一是作家Clayton的新書（The Words）的讀書會(huì)，Rory和老人是他筆下的人物；二是Rory創(chuàng)作路上的困境、成名和困惑；三是老人的愛情故事。三個(gè)作家，有著三個(gè)不同的故事，卻同樣面臨著人生的選擇。的確，生活中抉擇容易，難的是承擔(dān)抉擇的后果。

The Distance Between Dreams and Reality

夢(mèng)想到底有多遠(yuǎn)？

Rory夢(mèng)想成為作家，出版自己的書。大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，Rory與女友Dora在紐約租了一處住所，雖然如他所愿能專心寫作，但無經(jīng)濟(jì)來源的他仍感到生活的拮據(jù)，不得不硬著頭皮找自己的父親借錢。

Rory： Working hard？

Rorys Dad： ①All I do is put out fires. It never stops.

Rory： Listen， ②I know youre busy， so Im gonna come at you straight， okay？

Dad： Lets go into my office. （in the office） How much？

Rory： Just enough for the next month to cover us.

Dad： And then what？ You show up again here next month？

Rory： No， I got my book into an agent， says its got potential.

Dad： Did they give you any money？

Rory： No， but， Dad， it doesnt work like that. Its not like your business， okay？ Its not like you do work， you get paid for it， okay？ I gotta pay my dues.

Dad： No， I gotta pay your dues， right？

Rory： Look， I wouldnt ask you if I didnt need it. You think I like coming down here like this？

Dad： You think I like saying no？ I feel like Im hurting you more than helping you. You gotta start taking responsibility for your life.

Rory： Ive been taking responsibility for my life. Ive had a job since I was 15. I was a 1）busboy. Okay， we decided two years ago that ③I was gonna dedicate myself to being a writer. We had this conversation in the living room. Mom was right there. She agreed...

Dad： But its been a while. OK. ④So maybe now this should be a hobby instead of a profession until you get your feet on the ground.

Rory： Come on， thanks for the encouragement， Pop.

Dad： What about Dora？

Rory： What about Dora？

Dad： Well， I mean， you got to have money before you get married.

Rory： You know what？ Im sorry I wasted your time.

（Rory is leaving.）

Dad： Come here！ Hey， sit down！ Sit down.

Rory： Talking about marriage...

Dad： What are you， 11？ This is the last time. You gotta get a job， something steady， support yourself. Thats just part of being a man.

Rory： Im trying to be a man， Dad.

Dad： Another part of being a man...no matter how painful it might be， is accepting your own limitations. Come here.

Rory： I love you.

Dad： I love you.

Rory： Im gonna pay you back， you know.

Dad： Yeah. Yeah. Hey， you can always work here.

Rory： Haha. Wed kill each other.

羅里：忙嗎？

羅里的爸爸：我每天的工作就是救急，從來沒消停過。

羅里：聽著，我知道你很忙，所以我就開門見山了，好嗎？

爸爸：到我辦公室說吧。（在辦公室里）要多少錢？

羅里：夠我們下個(gè)月用的就行。

爸爸：然后呢？ 你下個(gè)月還會(huì)再來一次？

羅里：不，我把我寫的書寄到出版社了，他們說這書很有潛質(zhì)。

爸爸：他們給你錢了嗎？

羅里：沒有，但是爸爸，（出版業(yè)）不是這么運(yùn)作的。它與你的生意不同，對(duì)吧？這和你上班干活拿薪水不是一回事，好吧？ 我要付這樣那樣的租金。

爸爸：不，是我在給你付這樣那樣的租金，是吧？

羅里：聽著，如果不是急著用錢，我不會(huì)向你要的。你覺得我喜歡這樣厚著臉皮來求你嗎？

爸爸：你以為我喜歡拒絕你嗎？ 我感覺我不是在幫你，更多的是在害你。你是時(shí)候開始承擔(dān)生活責(zé)任了。

羅里：我已經(jīng)開始在承擔(dān)生活加在我身上的責(zé)任了。我15歲就開始打工，在餐館當(dāng)侍應(yīng)。好吧，兩年前我們說好的……把寫作當(dāng)成我的終身事業(yè)。我們當(dāng)時(shí)就在客廳談的，媽媽也在場(chǎng)，她同意了……

爸爸：此一時(shí)彼一時(shí)。好吧，或許你現(xiàn)在該把它當(dāng)作一種愛好，在你能腳踏實(shí)地之前你最好別把它當(dāng)作你的主業(yè)。

羅里：好吧，謝謝你的鼓勵(lì)，老爹。

爸爸：多拉怎么辦？

羅里：什么多拉怎么辦？

爸爸：呃，我的意思是，結(jié)婚也是要用錢的。

羅里：算了吧，很抱歉浪費(fèi)你的時(shí)間。（羅里準(zhǔn)備離開。）

爸爸：過來！嘿，坐下！坐下來。

羅里：現(xiàn)在談什么結(jié)婚的事……

爸爸：你多大了，11歲嗎？這是最后一次。你必須找到一份穩(wěn)定的工作來維持你的生活。那才是一個(gè)男人應(yīng)該做的。

羅里：我正在努力，爸爸。

爸爸：身為男人，該做的另一件事是……盡管這可能很痛苦，但你必須承認(rèn)自身的局限性。過來這兒。

羅里：我愛你。

爸爸：我愛你。

羅里：我會(huì)還錢給你，你知道的。

爸爸：是啊，是啊。嘿，隨時(shí)歡迎你來這里工作。

羅里：哈哈，我們可是水火不容啊。

Rory將自己的書寄給出版商，終于得到期待已久的回復(fù)。當(dāng)他滿懷希望地來到出版商的辦公室，卻還是得到了不好的消息。

Narrator： The agent had a 2）reputation for 3）impeccable taste and discovering young literary stars.

The agent： Its good. Its really good. I mean， its a beautiful piece of writing. And the truth is that you should be very proud of yourself.

Rory： Thank you very much， wow. I worked very hard on it.

The agent： The work shows. I look at you， I cant believe how young you are.

Rory： Well...

The agent： I have to tell you， Rory， I just see so much truth in your work. I... I am... Im so impressed.

Rory： Wow， I cant believe this. This is...

The agent： But unfortunately， the nature of the publishing business right now at this particular time is such that I dont know how to publish a book like this. Look， Rory， no one is gonna support a book like this.

Rory： Book like this？

The agent： From an unknown writer. Theres just no market for it. Now， its hard for any writer under any circumstances without a track record to get published. And this book... I mean， its so interior.

Rory： Interior？ What is that？

The agent： Its 4）artistic， its 5）subtle. Its... its a piece of art.

Rory： So this book， I should just shelve this and forget about it. I just... I spent three years working on it.

The agent： Im just trying to be honest with you. Im just telling you the reality of the situation. Have patience. You know， I wouldnt have brought you in here if I really didnt believe in you.

敘述者：這家出版社向來以品味無可挑剔著稱，發(fā)掘了許多年輕的文學(xué)新星。

出版商：很好。確實(shí)很好，我的意思是，文筆很好。你該為自己感到非常自豪。

羅里：非常感謝你的稱贊，哇。我費(fèi)了很多心血在這本書上。

出版商：看得出來?？粗?，我真不敢相信你這么年輕。

羅里：呵呵……

出版商：我得告訴你，羅里，你的作品非常真誠(chéng)。我……我……我印象深刻。

羅里：哇，我不敢相信。這……

出版商：但不幸的是，出版業(yè)在這個(gè)非常時(shí)期下，真的相當(dāng)不景氣，我不知道怎么出版一本這樣的書。聽我說，羅里，沒人愿意花錢出版這樣的書。

羅里：這樣的書？

出版商：還是一個(gè)無名小卒的作品。那沒有市場(chǎng)的。當(dāng)下，對(duì)任何一個(gè)作者來說，要在白手起家的情況下出版自己的書真的很困難，而這本書……我的意思是，太內(nèi)斂了。

羅里：內(nèi)斂？什么意思？

出版商：太文藝，太敏銳，是……是一件藝術(shù)品。

羅里：那這本書，我應(yīng)該束之高閣，然后忘了它的存在。我……我花了三年才完成它。

出版商：我只是實(shí)話實(shí)說，試著告訴你當(dāng)下出版業(yè)的現(xiàn)狀。耐心點(diǎn)，你要知道如果我真的不看好你的話，就不會(huì)請(qǐng)你到這兒來了。

When Opportunity Comes

當(dāng)機(jī)會(huì)來敲門

Rory在一家出版社找到了一份工作，一邊工作一邊利用閑余時(shí)間寫作。他與Dora新婚到巴黎度蜜月，期間Dora在一家二手商店買下一個(gè)書稿包送給Rory?；氐郊~約，Rory無意間發(fā)現(xiàn)藏在公文包里竟有一份泛黃的文稿，他被那些文字所感動(dòng)，也終日思考文稿的來源。他敲打鍵盤，將這些文字輸入電腦，一字不漏，只字未改。Dora卻無意間讀到了這部作品，大為感動(dòng)。

Rory： Oh， my God.

Dora： What？ What？

Rory： Are you pregnant？

Dora： No， no， no. I want you to listen to me. I was working on the computer today. And I swear to you Ive never gone through your things before， but your book was on the screen and I started reading one sentence.

Rory： Oh， no. Dora.

Dora： Then I read the second， and I couldnt put it down. Listen to me. You are everything youve always wanted to be.

Rory： Dora， you dont under...

Dora： Why would you keep this a secret from me？

Rory： No， its not a secret.

Dora： These stories， theyre so different from anything youve ever done before. Its as if you stopped hiding. Theyre fuller， theyre truer， theyre more honest. There are parts of you in this novel that I always knew were there... but I had never seen before. Ive never...

Rory： What parts？ What parts？

Dora： All of you. All of you， baby. This has to be seen. Just listen to me， okay. You always said that all you ever wanted to do was be a good writer. With this， Rory， youre a great writer. Baby， take it to work and show it to someone. And if youre not gonna do it for yourself， then please do it for me.