Words and Pictures, a romantic comedy that opens in theaters abroad on May 22, stars Clive Owen as a popular English teacher at a private high school who gets into an argument with the new art teacher, played by Juliette Binoche: Are words more important, or are pictures?

The two try to involve their students in the debate, and according to Harvey Karten, who saw an advance screening and reviewed the film for CompuServe ShowBiz, Owen tries to make his case by “quoting from the great authors with a special emphasis on John Updike, to paint metaphoric pictures.”

Karten’s full review also appears on Shockya.com.

The screenplay, in case you’re curious, was written by Gerald Di Pego, whose prior credits include Instinct (1999), Message in a Bottle (1999), and Sharky’s Machine (1981).