It’s an interesting, leftfield surprise for day two of the challenge. Despite
being a perfectly respectable directorial debut for Mel Gibson, who also serves
up a powerful, brooding performance as the film’s star, 1993’s The Man Without A Face is nevertheless a
bit of a letdown in the Hard Bastard stakes.
In the adaptation of Isabelle Holland’s 1972 novel of the same name, Mel is
Justin McLeod, a painter who has been living a reclusive existence in a small 1962
Maine town, due to a mysterious accident that has left his face and torso
hideously disfigured. The locals fear him, as he “never comes out of his
dungeon,” but disappointingly he is not an isolated, retired special-ops
assassin just waiting to be called out of retirement for once last all-action
assignment.
A former teacher,
McLeod crosses paths with Chuck Norstadt (impressive child star Nick Stahl), a troubled
young boy who desperately wants to pass a military academy’s entrance exam, and
who sees the damaged scholar as his best hope for success. Over an
enlightening, soul-searching summer, the two form a unique friendship and learn
some important life lessons about loyalty and not judging people by appearances,
when some alarming revelations are made about McLeod’s past.
The lead pair share remarkable
chemistry and the picture is full of moving, memorable moments, but there is a
distinct lack of breathtaking, high-octane action. It is a ‘talky’ film and
very little blows up or is threatened by terrorists. In fact, nobody gets shot or maimed at all, and those expecting
an exciting, explosive explanation for McLeod’s disfigurement will probably be
disappointed.
Gibson certainly
delivers a towering, commanding performance from under some convincing
prosthesis, proving that he is much more than a simple action man. Happily, his
character is still a bit of a hardass, the kind of guy who helps the kid learn by making
him dig massive holes out back and subjects him to other messy, physically exhausting tasks that help him learn in a fun, roundabout way, kind of like
Mr Miyagi. He may not shoot anyone, but Mel is on heroic form here, taking a big
chance on a poor kid whose ditzy mother has had three kids by three different guys
and who says things like “I’m not cut out for this mothering racket!” McLeod
guides him through a turbulent time by helping him get over his daddy issues
and achieve his dreams, and while the pizza-faced tutor may regularly paint and
recite Shakepseare, it is to Gibson’s credit that the prof always remains rugged, masculine and dangerous, threatening to explode into a frightening fit of rage at any moment.
He maintains a tough, steely exterior, wary of letting anyone in and quietly
simmers away, keeping us guessing as to what his secret is.
When McLeod’s secret
is revealed, despite not involving helicopters or ninjas, it is still a doozy.
Creepy ‘did-he-or-didn’t he?’ revelations about his past and how he came to be
in his current predicament flip his relationship with young Norstadt on its
head, forcing us to question our feelings about their friendship and his
intentions. Brilliantly, Gibson decides to keep things delightfully ambiguous
which makes the film stand out as a daring, provocative debut. For Lethal Weapon fans who have rented this
one by mistake, he even chucks in a bonus glimpse of the wild-eyed Mad Mel we
know and love in a thrilling scene where haunted, exacerbated McLeod
contemplates suicide and plays chicken with an oncoming articulated lorry.
Sadly, the scene does not end in incendiary vehicular carnage, but it is nice
to see Mel throwing the action junkies a bone.
Any battles in this
one are either metaphorical or fought in a courtroom with words and truth,
rather than swords and grenades, but the film is still worth a watch, even if
it doesn’t exactly do much to solidify Mel’s badass Hard Bastard credentials. The Man Without a Face was Mel
discovering his groove in the director’s chair, playing it safe before going
all-out with the gargantuan, arsecheek-baring, savage battles of Braveheart and is a small, wonderfully
observed examination of a tender, unlikely friendship. If you like that sort of
thing.
THE RATINGS;
INDESTRUCTIBILTY: 2/10 Just one look at him tells you he is
only too human, though he gets points for standing up to persecution.
COMBAT SKILLS: 1/10 He fights his fights with words and
thoughts. That’s rubbish.
ATTITUDE: 6/10 He heroically takes the kid under his wing
when everyone else has given up. But what about those allegations…?
OUTRAGEOUSNESS: 4/10 Plays chicken with a big truck! But
that’s it, really. Even the accident that disfigured him sounds kinda crap.
BODY COUNT: 0 in 115 minutes. Rubbish. 0/10
MEL’S SCORE: A generous 13/50
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