The Face of an Angel (2014) Reviews

• Another Movie About Another Real Life Story.

  crissgidas2015-04-09

  The Face of an Angel is a film about a journalist and documentary filmmaker that chase the story of a murder and its prime suspect. Now, I went to a Q&A of this with director Michael Winterbottom and writer Paul Viragh. I was particularly interested in what they had to say about the film since the film centred around such a well know case of Amanda Knox that was covered by the media extensively over the period of two or more years. That and also the fact that the film was nothing like I expected. I was confused, especially by Thomas' (Daniel Bruhl) hallucinations, and strangely dissatisfied. They had such a chance to cover something that us as an audience had some insight into but failed to make anything out of it and we were left as confused and alone as our lead. There wasn't much semblance of a story and introduces unnecessary oddities and fantasies to somehow "guide" us through the film. From the documentary filmmaker who rabidly turned to alcohol and drugs, constantly snorting cocaine in attempts to help him write a script, to the disjointed storyline incorporating mythical creatures that were totally unnecessary and hardly helped the story at all. And not to mention the CGI was an awful mess too. There was so many loose ends and unanswered questions with sensationalist journalism that there could have been a serious movie to be made here but it fell on its back. I left to question why this film was made in the first place if it had nothing to say about the Amanda Knox story.

• From boring to extremely boring

  deloudelouvain2015-10-05

  I have absolutely no idea how I came with the idea of watching this movie. As soon as it started I immediately understood that it was about the Amanda Knox case even though they use different names. So I thought it would be interesting to watch a movie about that. But what a disappointed that turned out to be. The story goes back and forth between the life of the journalists and the case itself. Difficult to follow and also extremely boring. Not that the actors were bad or so. They were all believable in their roles. But the story was just too boring and badly written. At one point I was battling not to fall asleep and at the end I just lost the battle. In a case like that I would normally just rewind until the part I fell asleep but with this movie I could not care less. I don't even want to know how it ended, too boring to waste anymore of my time with it.

• Wish I could get a refund for watching this

  whojumpsthere2015-06-28

  This is by far the worst movie I have seen in a long time. Throughout the whole thing I was waiting for something to finally start happening. Anything. I compare the experience to being forced to listen to someone whining for hours without an end... There were too many side stories, most of which were utterly boring and only shallowly touching upon the issues of cheating, drug abuse, family problems, psychos, depression. It seems they would throw 'anything' in there but they really failed to find an angle for the story. And this is what the story is about - failure. The main character is a failure, the story is a failure, the fact that murder is not solved is a failure. But the biggest failure of all is this badly directed movie. I have never been so agitated by watching a movie and while in the cinema I was thinking ''why don't you drown now'' about the main character... at least it would make this movie interesting in some way. I wish I could get a refund for watching this.

• Self-indulgent sub-Antonioni

  nickvining2015-03-08

  There is a serious movie to be made about the trial of Amanda Knox for the murder of Meredith Kercher. So many loose ends, so many unanswered questions, and so much sensationalist journalism. Whether it be a documentary, or dramatization is a moot point, but there is a serious movie to be made. Mike Winterbottom's calamitous and self-indulgent effort isn't it. To tackle this subject properly would demand a very courageous film-maker, but Wnterbotton ducks all the issues. The irony is that the book it is based on – Angel Face by Barbie Latza Nadeau – is, I think, a courageous attempt to cut through a subject which polarises opinion like no other. Although part of the media scrum, Nadeau, an Italian speaker, was at the time bureau chief in Rome for Newsweek and the Daily Beast and had the merit of understanding the labyrinthine Italian police and justice systems, as well as the psyche and culture of the people. She attended every day of every court hearing. Like everyone else she has a theory, but even if one doesn't find that credible, one cannot deny that she has made a reasoned and reasonable attempt to get to the heart of the case. The great mystery, then, is why she has allowed Winterbotton and screenwriter Paul Viragh to even claim that their sub-Antonioni nonsense is based on her book. And to add insult to injury, the character of Simone Ford (Kate Beckinsale) in the story is a less than flattering portrait of Nadeau. I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity. Nadeau's book affords some sympathy and respect for the family of Meredith Kercher; this movie on the other hand, whilst ostensibly being dedicated to her, is an insult to the Kercher family. Why? Because Winterbottom shamelessly uses the case as hook on which to hang a rather shabby and unedifying story about a director going through some sort of mid-life crisis whilst researching his latest movie about an English student murdered in Sienna. Not Perugia? No, because this movie fictionalises the whole case, changing names and places but keeping enough parallels as to leave us in no doubt. Insulting because the director is too lily-livered to confront any of the issues thrown up by the real events. Insulting because the movie centres around the fictional director Thomas (Daniel Brühl) who is equally lily-livered in his ham-fisted and half-hearted attempts to get to grips with the case. Insulting because at one point we are invited to see a parallel between Thomas missing his daughter who is alive and well and Skypeable on the other side of the Atlantic, and the awful void left by the death of the Kercher's daughter. What a self-indulgent mess this movie is. The central character, Thomas, appears to have had a personality by-pass. He seems to be haunted and pained by something, but what? Is his marriage on the rocks? If it is, we have little sympathy for him as he manages to bed at least two of the female characters during his stay in Sienna. He hangs around the place, snorting line after line, getting everyone's backs up, and interacting with Siennese lowlife characters straight from Central Casting. Just about every character in this movie is not only one dimensional but either unsympathetic or unlikeable. The one ray of light is the acting debut of Cara Delevingne as English ex-pat student Melanie. One suspects that she is not so much acting as just being herself. If so, she must be great fun to be around. The fact that she looks so child-like imbues the relationship between Melanie and Thomas with a touch of the Humbert Humberts and makes one feel slightly uncomfortable. I have no idea what this movie is trying to do or say other than urge us to read Dante's Divine Comedy. The references to this text in the movie are, frankly, ludicrous as are the CGI effects that accompany them. Mike Winterbottom was at the preview I saw for a Q and A, but unfortunately the tendinitis in my left knee which had been playing up all evening became just too painful and I had to go. Opportunity for enlightenment missed, I'm afraid.

• Faces of Angels

  stevenrosendale2015-07-23

  This film tells the story of a film director who sleeps with one of the hottest women in the world while on a trip to Italy. After which he decides to get totally wasted on coke, marijuana and alcohol. Then he ditches one of the hottest women in the world for one of the other hottest women in the world who is half the age of the first one. Meanwhile he stumbles from party to party stoned and drunk, ignoring the other not so hot women characters that he encounters. He also has an annoying not so hot wife who pops up from time to time. He finally settles for the younger hot one but I imagine it not lasting too long. There is a side story about the murder of one super hot chick by another hot chick. Not all is lost though because Cara CAN act!