Director: Arie Posin
Starring: Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman, Jess Weixler
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Certificate: PG
Synopsis: A widow falls for a guy who bears a striking resemblance to her late husband.
There are a multitude of movies that look at misguided identity in a comedic sense but Arie Posin’s THE FACE OF LOVE flips this approach on its head in this commendable and melancholic drama by concentrating on what happens when grief and yearning affects what you see, and what you actually want to see.
Opening with Nikki Lostrom (Annette Bening) and Garret Mathis (Ed Harris) on their 30th wedding anniversary in Mexico, we witness a happy couple celebrating their love with drinks, dancing and pot smoking. It’s entirely natural but we soon learn we’re actually slipping into flashbacks as Nikki sits alone in her house, remembering the past. There’s then no delay as we watch Nikki walking on the beach and finding Garret washed up on the beach, drowned and dead. We instantly realise her reason for self-despair and move to ‘Five Years Later…’
The early stages of THE FACE OF LOVE are a little clunky in the script. We met their daughter Summer (Jess Weixler) and both Nikki and her offspring have started to settle back into their life, they still miss Garret but a lot is over-explained when it doesn’t need to be. We find out that Summer has a relationship that’s hit a rocky patch but these moments feel like forced metaphor and a little unnecessary as we have some really good actors involved here. This includes neighbour, Roger, who’s played by the late, great Robin Williams and although just a small co-starring role throughout the film, he’s an important plot point for the reality side of what’s to come.
One day when Nikki is off at her job as a ‘House Stager’, she stops off at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art because she used to visit with her deceased husband. Whilst there, she sees Tom Young (also Ed Harris) who’s not related to Garret but instead the archetypal doppelgänger of him. After some stalking, Nikki ends up finding Tom in a few uncomfortable scenes after her obsession starts to get the better of her, but consequently they end up meeting for art classes and eventually dates. They’re clearly connecting but Nikki lies to Tom and says that her husband left her, rather than the facts.
As their relationship grows, the lies get deeper and Tom falls for her but still doesn’t know the truth, Nikki is tied up in her own stories and the obsession grows, the delusion moves away from reality and into what she wants in her life, rather than what’s right. She’s crossed over and there’s no coming back.
Annette Bening creates a character that’s easy to equally disparage and fully understand. Her pursuit of the past becomes an exceedingly dangerous game because she’s lost in the moment and not chasing the real past as she continues to give a life to Tom that was never his. Ed Harris gives us genuine performance of compassion and confusion as he falls for someone who thinks he’s someone else, but doesn’t know this until things start to twist into chaos and confession in the latter third of the film. With lesser actors, the movie wouldn’t have the same attachment but both Bening and Harris demonstrate their talent with solid, understandable reactions – They’re an incredible pairing. Co-starring roles for Robin Williams, Jess Weixler and Amy Brenneman are all required and relevant to the plot as they reveal the reality outside of the bubble that Nikki creates for herself.
Co-written with Matthew McDuffie, Posin’s THE FACE OF LOVE is a very watchable drama with tremendously relatable characters, even if the initial setup may discourage the viewers before it really gets going. For me, its saving grace is the sheer honesty of portrayal and the revealing aspect of what happens when you’re pushed to the edges of longing.
[usr=3] THE FACE OF LOVE is out now in UK Cinemas.
