This is a download from BBC Learning English.

To find out more, visit our website.

Hello, I'm Jayink. This is the English we speak.

And hello, I'm Rob. You know, I'm a little bit worried about Roy. Have you seen him today? Is he okay?

I saw him earlier. He was smiling as normal and in a good mood. Why were you worried about him?

Well, I overheard him talking and he said he was bankrupt.

No, Rob. Roy was talking about a film he watched and he said it was creatively bankrupt. We used the expression

creatively bankrupt to describe something that's completely

unoriginal or lacks creativity or innovation.

Ah, that makes sense.

So I guess he really didn't like that film then.

Mind you, films were better when I was younger.

Well, Rob, we can talk about your nostalgia right after these examples.

Margaret's third novel didn't do anything new and it just felt creatively bankrupt.

The singer's new album felt creatively bankrupt.

All the songs sounded boring and unoriginal. The film is creatively bankrupt. It's like the director

repeated things he did in his last movie.

This is the English we speak from BBC Learning English. We're talking about the

expression creatively bankrupt. We use it to say there is a lack of creativity in something that should normally feel innovative,

like the story of a film or a video game.

We can also use it to describe someone who's not original or out of good ideas.

So you think films used to be more creative?

...