Romantic melodrama starring Annette Bening and Ed Harris, about a widowed woman who finds herself attracted to a man that bears a striking resemblance to her late husband. From the director of The Chumscrubber and co-starring Robin Williams.
"Five years after the death of her beloved husband Garrett (Harris), Nikki (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." (Toronto International Film Festival)
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43%74 reviews
The 'mysterious doppelganger' trope is fairly well worn in cinema, appearing as recently as this year's The Double, and last year's Enemy. Unfortunately The Face of Love doesn't really bring any new ideas to the screen with its tale of a still-grieving widow who encounters her late husband's double. It's a slightly soporific, shapeless drama that does contain some fine performances from the reliable Annette Bening and Ed Harris.
Full review
Verges on ludicrous, but ultimately succeeds at conveying one person’s complicated yet emotionally rational response to a highly irrational situation.
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Bening ... immediately [makes] this woman come so satisfyingly alive, breathing believable vitality and at times contradictory emotions into what might have otherwise registered as a blur or cliché.
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Whether it’s worth seeing a film solely for one amazing performance is a personal judgment call; for those who take that particular leap once in a while, though, here’s a worthy candidate.
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There is something very dispiriting in watching talent struggling to save something as ill-conceived as this.
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Annette Bening captivates as the self-delusionist, with Ed Harris ruggedly irresistible as the object of her fantasy.
Full reviewThe Face of Love is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and SBS On Demand.
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