The Man Without a Face (1993)

hyped garbage

best movie i've ever seen.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are such special people in our lives that we cherish regarding them as those who left an undeniable trace on our memory lane. These people left a bit of themselves in us not through words but deeds that awed us. Yes, example speaks far more powerfully than words. Such is the theme of this wonderful movie where you cannot see everything if you rely solely on the basic senses. Amidst a lot of reviews on the movie, Roger Ebert's observation occurred most convincing to me: "this movie's theme is trust" while "the most striking element is the intelligence of the language."Chuck Norstad is a simple youngster, there is nothing unusual about him. Yet, some delicacy of his character and inner conflicts resulting from his upbringing, the absence of a man in the family, some confusion stimulated by female dominance in his house do not allow him to listen to his own inner voice, his male voice. An ambiguous situation in his home truly considers a serious obstacle. His peers, therefore, ignore him and mock him. His destiny, however, grants him with a wondrous gift, a teacher like no one else, one Mr Justin McLeod, misunderstood terribly by the locals, a man seemingly living as a recluse within the walls of his own world, a tutor, a friend, a face that will always be with him from the moment they fist meet. Yet, far is the way from overcoming the fear of "otherness" of this man to friendship of uncommon and unpredictable price...The movie's major strength, apart from the two wonderful performances that I am going to discuss later, lies in the austere form it takes. That is clearly revealed in the language (somewhere, images speak more than script, elsewhere, the script is clever and very much corresponds to the feelings of particular scenes). It is no preaching, prescriptive picture of human relations, it is no wordy script delivered with considerable pomp, it is just a simple, natural and genuine depiction of growing friendship that does not take into account any borders, like age difference, some background rumors or any other prejudice. Consider, though, that this friendship, which is also tutorship, does not exclude any storms of diverse emotions, torments, confusion. It is no oasis of idyll in the boy's escape world. It is natural, growing under the custody of mutual loyalty and honesty. And performances?No wonder that all the supporting cast appear in the shadow of the two leading characters, Nick Stahl as Chuch and Mel Gibson as McLeod. What a wonderful duality the two deliver in their roles, what a splendid bunch of diverse human emotions!Nick Stahl gives a tremendous performers for his age delivering all that is necessary for is role and supplying us with additional assumptions about the boy of his age. The difficult age of puberty is handled in a respectively subtle manner. In one scene, we see him looking at the Playboy magazine and there is a slight indication of the strong connection between the visual and mental stimuli. What this boy sees is deeply carved in his psyche, what he experiences is deeply influenced by his ever-going unpredictability. However, he is most interesting in the relation with Justin McLeod: the growing trust, the growing desire for loyalty, mutual understanding and, foremost, ability to think on his own. He is a good student who has a good teacher, the one who helps him, inspires him to discover the complexities of the world around, including hard, witty, challenging, rewarding moments. Mel Gibson is impressively captivating as a disfigured character, a man of great inner conflicts and intense abandonment, yet, a man who can beautifully capture the very essence of good vs evil. One of the most memorable moments is when he recites Shakespeare's MERCHANT OF VENICE to little Chuck and focuses on the aspect that, seemingly, refers to his personal situation. Inspiring and touching. His early meetings with Chuck are most interesting, though. The growing confidence endangered from time to time by some vague, even bizarre reactions memorably build up emotional resonance of the relation that is crucial for the story to be rightly interpreted. We do not find out much about his past, that does not matter. We are to conclude as the boy is to conclude who the man is once you get to know him in reality and put aside all you have merely heard of him.An educational film highly worth seeing! A movie that captures the gist of those few human relations that deserve to be called 'friendships.' Yes, a human being can be far more to another human being than just a sheer stranger, someone who meet and pass by, whose face you easily forget. He can be a unique 'face,' somewhere out beyond the edge of the crowd, which, for some short period perhaps, gives freely and generously moments of grace.

Mel Gibson both directs and stars in this moving film as Justin McLeod, a reclusive former teacher who was partially disfigured in a car accident ten years previous, and where a student was incinerated. Ever since, he has lived on the edge of town, an object of fear and ridicule, until one young man named Charles 'Chuck' Norstadt(Nick Stahl) befriends him with the aim of being tutored by him, since his grades need improvement, and Chuck is not afraid. However, his family is still suspicious, and Chuck will uncover the truth about McLeod that will change their lives forever.Mel Gibson does a fine job directing and acting, building a believable portrait of this scarred man who needs a second chance from a society that has wrongly judged him, and a young boy who will have his life turned around, leading to a most fitting finale.

This was a well acted movie, nothing to grandeur to be sure but interesting enough. The film has a boy who actually wants to go to a boarding school which is kind of a nice change of pace, but he does not really have the grades to do so. Well lucky for him there is a recluse living nearby, and he just happens to be a teacher. Well he tries to get this guy's help, but the guy is rather hesitant to do so. He is disfigured thanks to an incident in the past and he is frowned upon by the community. He does take the boy in though as you knew he would have to do seeing as there would not be much of a movie if he did not and the two form a bit of a bond. Not really a big one where the guy makes up for the fact the boy is fatherless, but a student teacher one to be sure. Well something happens and the boy is caught at this mans house by some authorities and there is a big court scene and we learn why the man has lost half his face and why he is frowned upon by the community. Usually I would say this movie is trying to say people unjustly accuse people of things based on appearances and such, but it just does not work in this case as there was sufficient evidence and circumstances to believe the man could have done what he was accused of. Still, Mel Gibson turns in a good performance and it was somewhat entertaining to watch, just nothing that would top any favorite movie lists of mine.

This was truly a heart-warming story; it was a mix of emotions -- sad, cheerful, humorous, and never boring. I can watch this movie a hundred times! Nick Stahl, even at a very young age, was an excellent actor. Every move, every expression added great humor and passion to each scene. At the beginning of the movie, it's fast-paced and energetic, but at the end it's really sad, so you'll need a box of tissue~ I was kind of disappointed at the end because Mel Gibson actually ends up being restrained from seeing Nick Stahl. Very sad. It wasn't lacking any quality at the end, so you cannot stay mad. But overall, you HAVE to watch this movie.