The
Man Without A Face (1993)
childhood drama
directed
by : Mel Gibson
featuring
: Mel Gibson - Nick Stahl - Margaret Whitton - Fay Masterson - Gaby Hoffman
running
time : 1 hour 54 minutes
Mel Gibson made his feature film directing
debut with this drama, loosely based on the book by Isabel Holland, which
combines elements from The Elephant Man, Mask, Scent Of A Woman, and The
Karate Kid in a study of the capacity for human trust and compassion. Gibson
plays Justin McLeod, a former teacher who, after having his face and his
body terribly disfigured in an automobile accident, has taken to living
alone in a big house in an island off the coast of Maine. McLeod works
as a free-lance artist who undergoes the humiliation of being shunned by
his neighbors and called "hamburger head" behind his back. McLeod keeps
to himself and wants nothing to do with his neighbors. But one day an adolescent
boy, Chuck Norstadt (Nick Stahl), comes knocking at his door desperate
for a tutor. At first suspicious, McLeod gradually warms up to Chuck and
they become pals. But their burgeoning friendship is frowned upon by Chuck's
family and the local police chief, Stark (Geoffrey Lewis), apparently because
of rumors circulating that McLeod had a record concerning child molestation.
This piece of gossip threatens Chuck with the loss of his teacher and a
new-found friend.
Gibson's directorial debut is
as routine as they come, packaging familiar elements from movies about
mentors, disfigurement, and unjustified fears of the unknown, then sealing
it all up with gorgeous cinematography of coastal Maine. In addition to
his first directing project, the film seems to semi intentionally double
as Gibson's attempt to place his talents as an actor at the forefront,
blurring his matinee-idol looks through burn scars that obscure half of
his face. The Man Without A Face has the utterly conventional feel of a
film given a director for his first effort, something with modest ambitions
that can't be screwed up by a neophyte. On this level, it has the pleasures
to keep the viewer interested, as long as expectations are kept low enough.
Child actor Stahl makes an impressive debut in the central role, appearing
in almost every scene and proving himself always up to the task. And Gibson
really doesn't need to don a bunch of makeup to prove he's more than just
a pretty face, as prior works like Hamlet (1990) have demonstrated. The
Man Without A Face may not stake a claim toward lingering importance, but
viewed as the film that allowed Gibson to get his feet wet before directing
Braveheart, it becomes a useful and necessary achievement.