italianredneckgirl Sigh. To be honest, I only watched this film because Robin Williams appeared in it. I'm teething to complete his collected works. This film did nothing, added nothing to his resume, except maybe generate income and keep him busy. Not a huge fan of Annette Bening. But I do like and enjoy Ed Harris' work. I mean, C'mon, those blue eyes! Nikki, played by Bening,is in mourning. It's clear to the viewer and to everyone excepting Nikki herself. While on vacation, celebrating their anniversary, Nikki and Garrett (also, obviously played by Harris) are in Mexico. There is am accident and Garrett dies while swimming during rip tide. Nikki is devastated and returns home and immediately gives all of Garrett's things away. Probably not a great idea, but done anyway. Seemingly, Robin Williams' character, Roger, is also widowed but had held on to everything from his wife. Nikki and Roger are clearly friends. Roger wants more but she doesn't feel the same. Enter really awkward experience of Tom. A dead ringer (pardon the pun)for Garrett and Nikki is lost in reverie. The film, from this point on, was super awkward and made me, as a viewer, feel more like someone witnessing a train- wreck, unable to do anything but also unable to look away. I was so uncomfortable for poor Tom that I simply found myself waiting for him to figure it out. The dialogue didn't matter. The pacing didn't matter. We all knew, as soon as Tom found out, he'd be gone. And, of course, he was. After a few close run ins (the restaurant, Roger, Summer, and the multiple name stumbles by Nikki ) and suddenly we find ourselves right back in Mexico, right back to the beginning. Predictable and actually anti-climatic. As soon as Tom was on his way to the bar, i was already looking for the picture. Sigh. And then it's done. And it should have been. The ending, with Anne,in the gallery want even necessary. But leaving the questionable did he die or what question hanging in the air was also predictable. Overall, truly disappointing. And honestly, incredibly exhausting. But, watching it solely for the purpose of cataloging Robin Williams roles. Perhaps if they had developed his character, or made him the male lead, this film might have actually been worth watching.

adam-703-808689 POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!! Annette Benning is unnervingly convincing as a grieving widow, who had a seemingly happy marriage cut short by her husband's death. He's played by a very self-conscious Ed Harris. She wallows for a while in her upmarket designer house, living in a sort of plot driven cocoon, populated only by her neighbour (a very creepy Robin Williams) and her daughter. Then she meets hubby's lookalike (also a very self-conscious Ed Harris) and woos him, but never tells him why she is so besotted. He falls for her, big time, and it takes him a very long time to twig the reason for her obsession. She meanwhile behaves like Jimmy Stewart in "Vertigo" and virtually forces him to dress and behave like her deceased hubby. I won't give away any more of the rather unlikely plot, but Benning's supremely selfish character is impossible to warm to. There is sympathy for Ed Harris (number 2), but he's unobservant to the point of stupidity. The very end of the film is seriously unpleasant, as we (I assume) are supposed to celebrate the liberation Benning feels as a result of exploiting this poor schmuck whose life she has turned upside down.

eddie_baggins As a huge fan of director Arie Posin's misunderstood and underrated look at suburbia in his 2005 debut film The Chumscrubber, it was with great anticipation I awaited his long gestating follow up which turned out to be this slice of middle aged romance The Face of Love (or the Look of Love in some countries). The cast looked good, the story seemed intriguing and even though the initial reaction to this film was lukewarm at best I still held out hope that the promise Posin showed on debut would come to the forefront, sadly this was not to be the case.The Face of Love is a hapless film, a groan inducing amateurishly written tale of love and loss that suffers the rare feat of growing worse and worse as the dire dialogue and story line unfolds one after the other. It's actually quiet embarrassing to sit back and witness the silly story take full effect and the actors of such experienced calibre like Annette Benning, Ed Harris and even the late Robin Williams (in a turn obviously taken during his financial troubles) struggle to make the film work. Benning in particular looks utterly lost in her role as grieving widow Nikki, she's given most of the films worst lines and scenes but to say even the reliable Ed Harris succeeds would be a lie as the actor also gets lost further and further into a character that was never going to work. With a lack of solid direction, badly directed acting turns and a terrible script it's like Posin has taken a step back in all areas from The Chumscrubber.The Chumscrubber was often inventive, satirically smart and featured an abundance of neat acting turns (bar the always horrible Camilla Belle) which all fail to eventuate here. Posin was clearly passionate about his follow up project, reading about the film it's easy to see that it was not an easy sell and at the heart of proceedings there is an undeniably intriguing story to tell but in the final product there is no real heart and soul, it's a cold picture where it should have been full of human emotion and care. We never wholeheartedly feel the love Nikki feels for Garret and his doppelganger Tom and romantic moments between the lovers always feels forced and eerily creepy. It's almost like the film turned into a voyeuristic nightmare where we should have been engaged in an emotionally charged love.Without question one of the year's worst films and a major disappointment for those like me that thought Posin was a talent to watch. Face of Love is an embarrassment for all those involved and a showcase for how not to produce a potentially effective screen story. Hard to watch for all the wrong reasons, Face of Love neither inspires, affects nor intrigues, yet does make you wish the horrors on screen would stop for the love of all things decent! Half a desperate neighbour out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check out -www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

vincentlynch-moonoi I'd almost forgotten about Annette Bening, but I rather enjoyed several of her performances in earlier years. I never really cared for Ed Harris, but have come to appreciate him more as he has matured. So when I noticed this on cable I thought it might be worth watching. As I began watching it, for a short while I thought it might be almost Hitchcockian...but unfortunately, it was not. First of all, Hitchcok's films were never plodding, and the early part of this film is very plodding. Of course, Benning's character is depressed after the drowning death of her husband. But it seems to be in a plodding phase a little too long. It begins to perk up a tad when she begins seeing a man who looks like he could be her husband's twin brother (Ed Harris). And this is where there could have been such a wonderful Hitchcockian plot. But alas, it's just a story about a depressed woman who obsesses over the man who likes like her dead husband.Once you realize where the story is going, you settle in for the long wait...the wait to find out how Harris' character finds out that Benning's character loves him for all the wrong reasons.Benning does a nice enough job here, although I actually think Harris' performance is stronger. My big question is why did Robin Williams agree to play the third wheel (a neighbor whose wife died). Williams is fine enough in the part, but it seems a bit beneath him.There are a couple of things wrong with this film, and while this may not be a big thing, who the heck selected Annette Benning's wardrobe. PU. The other thing is that Annete Benning's character is so creepy, that Harris' character would be a fool to fall in love with her. I mean it...really creepy! Of course, the climax of the film comes when Harris finally figures out that Benning is "in love" with him because he looks like her ex-husband. Of course, for a few minutes you wonder if one or both of them will also drown, and... And I'm not sure at all how I feel about the final ending of the film.Do I recommend this? No. Well, maybe if nothing else is on the cable channels that you want to watch.