aka: the passion of Will Shortz....fasicnating, even for non-puzzlers.

I won't say it was better than I thought it'd be, because I wouldn't have rented it if I thought it was going to suck. It was certainly funnier than I thought it was going to be and a bit more harrowing as well. Worth taking a look at if you're interested in puzzles.

Anyone somewhat into crossword puzzles will love this documentary. I had no idea how competitive it gets at the highest level, and the use of multiple different 'characters' leading up to the tournament is a great way to get a sneak peak into the average life of a puzzler.

Interesting, but far too many arrogant people in this film to be truly entertaining.

"The excitement is palpable!" should totally have been its tagline. Good documentary, although I was surprised when it switched from covering the origin of the crossword to covering the tournament. I could've done with a little more tournament and a little less celeb-crosswordtalk, really, but it was edited in a surprisingly lively fashion that made sure it never got dull. I wish my brain worked like some of them people's.

Some may think that the beauty of 'Wordplay' is that it manages to make a boring topic, in this case the New York Times crossword puzzle, seem somewhat interesting. That's not what makes 'Wordplay' a great doc. It's the fact that it sneaks in the usual movie formula while making you think it's about crosswords. It's really a story of underdogs, prodigies, failures and aging. Through the players and the central meeting place of a tournament, 'Wordplay' gives you a glimpse of a community and life.

As a fan of x-words, there wasn't much about this docu I could hate.

Shows fascinating story of people that are obsessed with crosswords. Kind of a nerd gathering. Well done but drags a bit to long in the middle of the film.

I don't really like crosswords, but I love movies about people going nuts over whatever nerdy niche they are passionate about. We all have that one thing that we're like that with, so we can all relate. The movie captures that spirit, which makes it pretty good. That being said, I didn't really care about who won the crossword competition, because that is a "thing" rather than the "characters." Again, the "thing" doesn't interest me at all. Other than that, a fairly strong documentary.

"A cute, quirky but predominately superficial portrait of brainy wordsmiths." - Nick Schager

Pretty decent, but could have been better by generalizing the scope of the topic a bit. Also, the talent show montage sequence should have been cut.

An enjoyable documentary that focuses too much on one crossword competition and not enough on crossword construction or even crossword history, both of which were far more interesting.

The best part of the movie wasn't even included in the film... the extra feature about the 5 most memorable cross word puzzles was very interesting.

Adding to the intrigue of the film is the meticulous nature in which it is filmed. Rising above a normal documentary with the use of special effects and sometimes aggressive camera work, the film illuminates the world of crosswords rather than just placing a camera in a room and allowing life to happen. For such dry material, this what makes the story jump.

This won't tell you everything you want to know about crosswords; there's a narrowness that both helps and hinders the movie. I wanted a lot more about the history of crosswords and some of the more clever variations. If not especially informative, the film is plenty of fun from start to finish, with celebrity interviews, quirky personalities, clever use of graphics, and of course the nail-biting finish.

Depicts the universe of those puzzle makers & solvers in a real fun way, with some devilish suspense.

Quite entertaining.