The Face of Love

It’s still worthwhile to see such seasoned screen professionals working to create something meaningful.

The result isn’t a great movie, but it is an excellent guilty pleasure.

A soapy but stirring romance with two committed leads.

John Lennon once said that because he was an artist, if you gave him a tuba, he could get something out of it. The Face of Love presents us with Annette Bening and Ed Harris playing the tuba. They get something out of it - they get everything there is to get and more - but it's not enough.

If Nancy Meyers ever decided to dabble in gothic romance, it probably would turn out to be something like The Face of Love.

The Face Of Love provides itself with countless similar opportunities for emotional sweep, and squanders most of them by being workmanlike and unambitious, presuming that a story and a string score are enough to carry a movie.

Bening and Harris are great actors, and they fill their roles as completely as they can, given the limitations of the soggy and implausible script by Matthew McDuffie and director Arie Posin.

This is a sad watch - it features a great cast and performances from Annette Bening, Ed Harris and Robin Williams (Williams is only on screen for a few minutes though, not being one of the main characters). I found this an emotional watch - if your prone to crying at films then tissues will probably be required. I thought this film handled the themes sensitively and I found it a good watch. Its somewhat thought provoking (which is something I like the films I see to be) and I would recommend it to others, yes.

Any film which takes an ordinary part of life and twists it into something unusual and fascinating is worth noting. THE FACE OF LOVE does just that - with intriguing and thoughtful direction from Arie Posin, Annette Bening soars as a grief-stricken widow in love.

This is a Lifetime Movie of the Week with an A-list cast. Annette Bening meets a man (Ed Harris) who looks just like her dead husband (also played by Harris). Nothing that happens next is in any way original. She's too glum for too long and he's too perfect, patient and understanding. While the actors create a compelling couple, the painfully predictable plot, uninspired script and lackluster direction undermine any hope of making this movie special (except maybe a Special Movie Event on cable).