THE FACE OF LOVE (2013)

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Arie Posin
Cast: Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman, Jess Weixler
RunTime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 10 April 2014

Synopsis: Five years after the death of her beloved husband Garrett (Ed Harris), Nikki (Annette Bening) meets a man who seems his exact duplicate. Not only does this stranger possess the same deeply lined face and startling blue eyes, he also shares Garrett's kindness, humour, and passion for art. And yet he is a stranger. Romance blossoms between Nikki and this alluring doppelgänger, but she can't bring herself to tell him the truth about what drew her to him. So she hides her photos and prevents him from meeting friends and family. Still, she can't resist taking him to all the old haunts. It isn't a question of if the truth will come out, but when. Arie Posin directs this emotionally thorny drama about how we cope with loss, live in the moment and ultimately move forward.

Movie Review:

You can’t really fault a movie like The Face of Love mainly because it stars two veteran actors that we just can’t get enough of, Ed Harris and Annette Bening.

This romantic drama written and directed by Arie Posin is about grief, loss and love. It’s mostly dealing with what are you going to do in life when someone you deeply loved is taken from you one day. Do you move on or do you choose to linger on to his presence?

We are told in flashbacks that Garrett (Harris) and Nikki (Bening) is a loving couple, those that kiss, surprise and hug each other liked they just got married the day before. Their only daughter has grown up and they are vacationing in Mexico to celebrate their 30^th anniversary. The next morning Garrett is found dead, drowned to be precise and from then on, Nikki finds it hard to live life without her husband.

Five years later, Nikki stumbled onto someone that looks exactly like her husband at the museum except he is not into suit and bow tie. His name is Tom (Harris), an arts lecturer at the local university and also a lonely divorcee. On the pretext of hiring him as her painting teacher, Nikki invites Tom to her upscale house. They did start to paint for a while (Harris into his Pollack form once again) but soon find themselves madly in love. Not with painting of course. Question: Is Nikki treating Tom as Garrett’s substitute? Or is she truly in love with Tom?   

The premise is unbelievable to be fair. And I can assure you there’s no presence of sci-fi or disturbing psychology twist lurking at the end. The Face of Love turned out to be a quite a satisfactory study on human relationships. What if? What if the person you love right now has traits of your past love? Of course, Posin’s script tends to be on the exaggerated side but it addresses the same dilemma. Minus away the doppelganger factor, can Nikki truly forget about Garrett in the presence of Tom?

Expectedly, Harris and Bening gave stirring performances despite numerous close-ups of their wrinkles, which can prove to be quite a distraction and the occasional lapse in logic. Robin Williams not to be mistaken for Robbie appears in a small role as Roger, Nikki’s neighbor who pops by now and then to use her pool in the afternoon but in reality has a thing for her. 

The Face of Love is a romance drama for grownups and definitely not for those who are fans of Nicholas Sparks’ digestible mushy stuff. It makes for a quiet somber getaway session for the adults. 

Movie Rating:

(Watch this for the sake of Ed Harris and Annette Bening)

Review by Linus Tee