Directed by Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo.
Take the bright, competitive and quirky kids in "Spellbound," the marvelous documentary about the national spelling bee. Now imagine some of those youngsters as grown-ups, add profanity, drug use and bad facial hair, and you have a rough idea of what "Word Wars" is like. Tracking four Scrabble fanatics as they travel from tournament to tournament and eventually reach the U.S. nationals in San Diego, the film is a thoroughly entertaining and hilarious look at a board game that's an occasional amusement for some -- and a serious obsession (or disturbing addiction) for others.
-- John McMurtrie