THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE, despite accusations of novel bastardization and a heavy ultra-conservative agenda, has some good moments. I'm not a particularly strong fan of Mel Gibson, and oft times, am quite dubious of his acting talent. However, for a directorial debut, he didn't do half bad.
My problems with T.M.W.A.F. was along the lines of holes in the script. We never get to fully explore why Charles/Chuck goes into catatonic states, except for a few clues and at times, sibling rivalries. There's a scene where he lays all his problems on his mother, emotionally crushing the woman. She walks away. This situation never gets resolved or even addressed again. What happened here? The screenwriters got the viewer worked up, then walked away like mom.
Another scene where one of the young lead hurls profanities at a couple of elder men in the woods, was hardly realistic from that period of time. Even by today's standards, in small town America, where everybody knows one another, a child throwing this language at elderly people wouldn't go unanswered. It could fulminate, at the very least, into a sound "talking to" (if not, corporal punishment), whence the child returned home.
Also, the genuine "feel" of friendship between the protagonists never really materialized for me. It started stiff, as expected, yet never slowly blossomed into something believable.
THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE is an okay way to pass the time, if you're willing to put your objectivity in neutral. It has some good scenes, yet doesn't explore the complexities of this unique friendship too deeply.
My problems with T.M.W.A.F. was along the lines of holes in the script. We never get to fully explore why Charles/Chuck goes into catatonic states, except for a few clues and at times, sibling rivalries. There's a scene where he lays all his problems on his mother, emotionally crushing the woman. She walks away. This situation never gets resolved or even addressed again. What happened here? The screenwriters got the viewer worked up, then walked away like mom.
Another scene where one of the young lead hurls profanities at a couple of elder men in the woods, was hardly realistic from that period of time. Even by today's standards, in small town America, where everybody knows one another, a child throwing this language at elderly people wouldn't go unanswered. It could fulminate, at the very least, into a sound "talking to" (if not, corporal punishment), whence the child returned home.
Also, the genuine "feel" of friendship between the protagonists never really materialized for me. It started stiff, as expected, yet never slowly blossomed into something believable.
THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE is an okay way to pass the time, if you're willing to put your objectivity in neutral. It has some good scenes, yet doesn't explore the complexities of this unique friendship too deeply.