Reviews spelled out in four-word letters

The Four Word Film Review website (www.fwfr.com) takes the idea of the capsulized film review to the extreme.

Londoner Benjamin Clews, 31, says in an e-mail that he created the site in 1999 with a “feeble little collection of reviews on it written by myself and friends.”

Four Word Film Review has since morphed into a compilation of 150,000-plus film summaries and reviews -- with the only caveat being that registered reviewers must write them in four words or less. “

Clews decided on the site’s numerical theme after much experimentation. The average for most of the trial reviews came to -- you guessed it -- four words. “On reflection, I feel three words would just be too hard to express yourself with. And five is far too verbose for my liking.”

Many recent movie releases have been whittled down to pithy, but clever, statements. An entry for Steve Martin’s “Shopgirl” reads, “Buying Saks not love.” A “Chicken Little” review pronounces: “Close Encounters: Chicken Kind.”

Older films are also added to the archive, with Clews keeping tabs on the top daily reviews as well as the “All-time Top 100” as voted by visitors. Many of the highest-rated descriptors read like news headlines -- but funnier. “This Is Spaniel Tap” refers to 2000’s “Best in Show,” and 1984’s “Amadeus” is condensed to “Salieri has pianist envy.” But the No. 1 slot belongs to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio’s epic “Titanic”: “Icy dead people.”

The site also has an active “fourum,” where cinema lovers discuss movies in depth, share upcoming release spoilers, dissect recent reviews and correct the site’s duplicative or vague entries. “Initially, it was people discussing their reviews and getting others to vote [for their entries],” Clews writes, “but it’s quickly grown into a fully-fledged community.”

In the spirit of the site’s credo, we’d like to offer the following summary review of www.fwfr.com: “Website induces film fourplay.”