"Alas, even Murphy's largely wordless, physically adroit performance can't redeem this tortured exercise in high-concept spiritualist hokum."
Murphy stars as a fast-talking literary agent whose life changes after meeting Sinja and the mysterious appearance of a magical tree in his backyard.
A leaf falls from the tree each time he utters a word and when the last leaf falls both he and the tree will die.
Curtis' New Zealand agent Gabriella Larkin-Bruce said she was unaware of the criticism.
Ms Larkin-Bruce said she usually received movie scripts for Curtis.
"But this was one that was obviously picked up by his American agent - particularly if it was an Eddie Murphy movie," she said.
His next project is the TV drama Missing, which premiered in America overnight and co-stars Ashley Judd.
Only one film last year earned 0 per cent: Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star, a comedy co-written by Adam Sandler.
WORSE THAN THESE?
* Birdemic (2009): A lingerie model saves the world from a plague of angry birds. Egregious effects, diabolical dialogue, cult hit.
* Leprechaun (1993): Jennifer Aniston is pitted against a psychotic, three-foot-nothing leprechaun. Imagine the result.
* The Room (2003): The "Citizen Kane of bad movies" - but so bad it's good and screenings still sell out in the US.
Watch the trailer for A Thousand Words:
