Face

Face is among the subgenre of movies that can still blindside me with severe mediocrity. There are intermittent times when I simply cannot resist a cheeky gangster flick, and Face is one of the candygrams that blows up in your face. There's nothing inherently wrong with the story except that it has been used more times than a hooker's hanky, the basic premise anyway.

The film begins with Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone, two of England's great screen badasses, breaking into a drug dealer's apartment, posing as police officers in order to raid his cash and his stash. The next scene begins the unfolding of the mainline of the plot, a bank robbery. And they have their logistics man, Robert Carlyle's old friend from prison, et cetera. Then the third event in the film is the inevitable betrayal within the heist crew. And of course there's Carlyle's nagging, guilt-laying girlfriend. I've always wondered what else will happen in a crime film whenever the story's pivotal heist occurs in the first twenty minutes other than betrayals and nagging token female characters. These filmmakers don't seem to have shared my curiosity.

Aside from a small portion of time given to Carlyle's backstory as a war protester, Face is just another recycled crime flick for teenagers telling the age-old tale of a group of violent criminals and what happens to them after they steal a lot of money. It even employs another thriller gimmick: It's set over the course of 48 hours in and around the city, in this case London. What director Antonia Bird, who did later direct a decent Robert Carlyle movie called Ravenous, tries to do is gloss the film with grunge, badassery and style as a substitute for expanding on what she pulled off the assembly line, one of the results of this choice being a soundtrack that is unusually bad for an English gangster film.

I'm sure I'm not being fair enough to this movie. There are several assembly line movies that are entertaining enough, but frankly I don't feel that requires an explanation that differentiates between this and them. To me, if you're making an insincere movie, the audience has the right to be subjective. Whether one considers it a good movie or not is now pure luck. With Face, I was bored and cynical. If it were on TV on a lazy day or when I need to kill a little time, I might stay for a few minutes of the shootout in the street (in which you can briefly hear an unmistakable soundbite of Tim Roth's wailing early in Reservoir Dogs), or for one good if very brief scene, where Carlyle is comforted by Winstone by hugging him when he's crying.

This has got to be one the very best of British mob movies. Excellent direction, Robert Carlyle is at his very best, the same as Ray Winstone and Philip Davis. This is a film I could watch a lot more than once. Totally brilliant and British totally enjoyable.

Face in my opinion is one of the best British films since the Long Good Friday. Why it wasn't a box-office hit is hard to believe; possibly the film's title needs changing. "Face" is not very catchy or memorable. With a new name and little bit more hype this film will rocket.

This is one of the best British Gangster movies of all time! Sadly overlooked. Robert Carlyle is brilliant and authentic in his delivery as a gang leader with a conscience. Like 'Clockers' this is a movie that makes you think. This is not just a gangster/robbery movie. It looks into the lives of each character and their interaction with society and each other. It looks at trust and conscience. The dialog is the best I have heard in this sort of movie and very real. Brilliant performances from all! Great story and ending. Why this was not promoted properly at the time I don't know. Its better than the middle class made Lock Stock, and on a par with The Long Good Friday. Watch and enjoy.

Believe it or not, Britain did make decent gangster films prior to Guy Ritchie's arrival with 'Lock Stock' style of film-making. And, one of those that has and probably always will be eclipsed by Ritchie's way of film-making will be 'Face.' And that's slightly surprising as it has two – reasonably – big names in British cinema in the lead roles – Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone.

Perhaps one of its 'flaws' (and I put that word in quotes because, personally, I don't consider it a flaw) is the way it's directed. It's hardly an exercise in style. Ritchie's 'Lock Stock' films were that rare breed that seamlessly blended style AND substance. Well, Face does have the substance to be a great film, it just doesn't have the style.

It feels a bit like a 'made-for-TV' movie (perhaps because it was made by the BBC?) with its *slightly* bland style of direction. There's no snappy montages or cracking tunes to heighten the mood and atmosphere. This is probably why it never really appealed to the masses.

It's about a bank robbery gone wrong (yes, I know that brief summary also sums up Reservoir Dogs, but, trust me, it's nothing like that). The criminals get away with the loot, but someone wants it all and are prepared to use – lethal – force to get it.

Okay, so it doesn't have the style of Lock Stock or the instant cool of a Tarrantino movie, but it is a good little number in its own right. If you're into your gangster films and aren't looking for something 'uber-cool' then you could do worse than watch this one.

You'll probably find it on TV late at night, or as part of a TV/Movie streaming service. If so, it's definitely worth a watch.

http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/