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No, Face hardly sets the world alight through its rampant originality; this is no Citizen Kane and director Antonia Bird is no Orson Welles. Instead she appears to be a competent hand at the helm, happy enough to steer her picture on a safe, unadventurous course. Luckily she's assisted by writer Ronan Bennett, since he provides a script that can go from A to B on one level, yet twist itself around on another. Thus superficially the story details the run-up to the robbery, its execution and the aftermath. We witness the gang's preparations, their reaction to extreme stress and what they do when it all falls apart (sadly, at no point do they seem to be having any fun!).
Underneath Bennett contrasts this mundane normality with unpredictability, giving Face its driving impetus. The gang members discover what's happening right alongside us, the audience, such that the loops and turns retain their delicious freshness. Bird doesn't hamper this element too much, though through her cast she does move to damp the excitement down. So, while every surprise engenders a fair degree of action, each one blows over rather too quickly, leaving a distinctly hollow feeling behind. Something is lacking, a sense of memory or consequence perhaps?
Despite this, the quality of the acting is generally high, even if the output never quite attains the level of intensity that one might expect. Robert Carlyle, as Ray, does best of all, given the most room to explore his role and able to use this extra freedom with intelligence. He seems to have more to say than Ray Winstone does as Dave, though both locate the pathos that lies at the core of their part. Sadly Face doesn't give its characters much of a workout, probably because they're shallow; their differences are simplistic (stupid, psychotic, ageing, thoughtful) rather than meaningful, sufficient for the purpose but no more.
It's interesting to note just how fundamentally this is a British gangster movie, unmistakably so. The thieves live in dingy flats, drink in run-down pubs and generally spend days looking over their shoulder. There's no glitz or glamour to their occupation, merely the grind of wondering where the next job is going to lead. In this, and perhaps only this, Face tunes into reality.
Still, I'll bet that most villains don't get to work with such a bunch of cracking, atmospheric tunes! The soundtrack is just great and here it definitely makes the film experience more enjoyable. Maybe that's because Face has the tone of a play, working itself out act by act, maybe it's merely Bird's heavy touch; who cares, in this film you need to take your joy when and where you can.
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