You know it’s the weekend when this much time becomes available to work on something you have a passion for multiple times in a single day. I feel blessed that Fridays are often that way for me, having worked my 40 hours the first 4 days of the week. As my interest in Independent cinema continues to grow, I keep looking for more and more films to view and take a shot at, many new ones this film year thanks to, yet again, On Demand having them available even AHEAD of the official release date in theaters. So, on this Friday, I bring you my second indie film review, “The Face Of Love”.
As with my previous review for “The Best Offer”, this film is a first time movie for me to see by another writer/director, Arie Posin, whose only other feature length film was 2005’s “The Chumscrubber“. This story finds us thrown right into the grief-filled life of recently widowed Nikki (the always solid Annette Benning), who we initially see is reeling from the unexpected passing of her husband Garrett (the equally solid Ed Harris) during an anniversary trip to Mexico. We see all this via flashback of course as Nikki sits alone by the pool at their Los Angeles home, still trying to come to terms with the loss. Varied memories are given to us this way, with Nikki ultimately attempting to purge her life of the things that remind her of Garrett, even by a brief moment of pain inflicted upon herself. Skip ahead 5 years, and Nikki has settled into normalcy again, often still confiding in a neighbor of many years, Roger (an amazingly subdued Robin Williams), who also had his spouse die, hence the connection, and even lonely infatuation, we can tell he has with and for Nikki. In this mix is also Nikki’s early twenty-something daughter, Summer (Jess Weixler), who notices Roger is often around using the pool, much to her curiosity and Nikki’s “what’s the problem with that, he’s a friend” attitude. Yet, even after time, Nikki still finds herself coming downstairs at night, calling out to Garrett as if he were still present. So we know he very much remains in her head and heart, unbeknownst to her that life is about to take a serious turn.
In visiting an art gallery that once held fascination for the two of them, Nikki wanders outside, suddenly noticing a man sitting on a bench in the distance. As she pauses in disbelief, the man gets up and walks by her….the shock on her face being that he looks JUST like Garrett. Nikki discusses the event with Roger, who asks her what she plans to do, and initially, Nikki thinks nothing, until she starts waiting for the man to show again at the same spot. Soon, she is following him and looking up his place of employment (we do see how this information is discovered), which eventually leads to a first and VERY awkward meeting with Tom Young (Ed Harris…again), whom we find is an art teacher at a local college. Tom is an easy-going guy who seems to have found a new lease on life and especially in his painting outside of the class he teaches, after meeting Nikki. Knowing WHY she is initially attracted to Tom, from here we watch as their friendship, then relationship, grow and we also see that Tom confides in his ex-wife (Amy Brenneman), who also reveals something about Tom in a conversation about the new woman in his life that he his totally fawning over, experiencing a depth of feeling he did not have before. Things continue to develop, but as more and more times and encounters come about that could threaten to reveal the truth, Nikki begins to slowly unravel, until one devastating incident shatters both her and Tom’s newly found bliss. Nikki’s reaction to this and the decision that follows puts the final act into play, and soon, truth is all that stands between new love, revelations about the past, and whether love can withstand the harsh truths of a relationship begun on a false base. Per usual, I will not reveal the actual details of the final act, but it was satisfying and powerful.
Whenever you get two veteran actors together like this, I always tend to expect the best because I know from seeing past works that they are capable of greatness consistently. With that in mind, I would not say the roles of Tom and Nikki are any STRETCH for them at all, BUT, as I mention SO often (and will continue to do so where appropriate! Deal with it! LOL), it is in the SIMPLICITY and straight-forwardness of these characters and execution of the scenes that Benning and Harris excel at bringing to life. They give us that wonderful beauty of just playing normal people, two people who have had their share of hurts and joys, and in their older years, are finding it again. Even though they DO find this love, they also both see it in different ways because of the story being told, and THAT is what just keeps you hanging on, the building up to the time when you just KNOW things HAVE to come to a head. And again, Benning and Harris are perfect for this scenario to be acted out, as it feels genuine in its delivery. Robin Williams does his part here, but nothing spectacular, which can be expected in this type of supporting role. The same can be said for Weixler playing Summer, though there is a key scene where she DOES let it out well! And the film keeps its scenes and cinematography simple as well, which is also an element I often appreciate about indies. Just letting the camera show the life being brought out in the story, it makes us live the story with the actors, at least that’s how it affects me when watching this and other films, big or small. And for only his second major indie film, I would say this was a good, mature sophomore effort on Posin’s part, too.
As always, this is for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
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