FACE TO FACE
***
Director: Michael Rymer
Screenwriter: Michael Rymer adapted from David Williamson’s play, Face to Face
Principal cast:
Luke Ford
Matthew Newton
Robert Rabiah
Lauren Clair
Vince Colosimo
Julie Rossiter
Sigrid Thornton
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 89 mins
Australian release date: 8 September 2011
Face to Face is Michael’s Rymer’s second Australian feature since the superb Angel Baby, which won seven AFI Awards in 1995. It is a welcome return to form after his years in Hollywood and the lacklustre Queen of the Damned. He was lured back to the Aussie fold by a David Williamson script dealing with complex issues that are resolved through communication. Rymer felt it showed a system that works and gave some answers to the nagging doubts he had about the negative state of the world; gathering ten people in a room to expose and discuss their problems was a positive way of getting them to realize that they could solve their issues collectively, as part of a group, rather than mere individuals.
The issue at hand is for a diverse group of work colleagues to determine the fate of one of their former workmates, a young man, Wayne Travers (Luke Ford), who has anger management problems. These were fuelled by a prank at work that went horribly wrong when he discovered that he had been lied to and betrayed by his mates. Wayne is a plank short of a fence (a bit of type-casting for Ford, but once again it works! See The Black Balloon and Animal Kingdom) and unable to fully comprehend why he was sacked for harassing a female employee.
A mediation meeting is set up, headed by Jack Manning (Matthew Newton, perfectly pitched in this role). The workmates (who all give great performances, especially Hakim (Robert Rabiah) gather to give their opinion as to what happened. Wayne is accompanied by his mother Maureen (Lauren Clair) and it is during the session that a lot of the murky past is revealed concerning the relationships between her, the boss, Greg (Vince Colosimo), his gorgeous PA, Laura (Julie Rossiter) and Greg’s long-suffering wife Claire (Sigrid Thornton).
Using the excellent cast and a well-adapted script, Rymer has successfully developed a very watchable, albeit claustrophobic, film. If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that the film never quite breaks away from its stage-play origins. He uses a few flashbacks at the beginning of the film, but made a conscious decision to stick to the one room to, ‘preserve a pressure-cooker intensity’ which he thought made the characters open up to one another. He also states that, ‘this is a small movie, with big ideas’ and he is correct on that score. However, he may be a tad ambitious believing that, ‘maybe a small movie can change things.’ I guess it depends on how many people go to see it and come away with a positive attitude to resolution. I think it is worth it as Face to Face contains a fine ensemble cast who get the opportunity to develop great performances, using a decent Australian script.
Screenwriter: Michael Rymer adapted from David Williamson’s play, Face to Face
Principal cast:
Luke Ford
Matthew Newton
Robert Rabiah
Lauren Clair
Vince Colosimo
Julie Rossiter
Sigrid Thornton
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 89 mins
Australian release date: 8 September 2011
Face to Face is Michael’s Rymer’s second Australian feature since the superb Angel Baby, which won seven AFI Awards in 1995. It is a welcome return to form after his years in Hollywood and the lacklustre Queen of the Damned. He was lured back to the Aussie fold by a David Williamson script dealing with complex issues that are resolved through communication. Rymer felt it showed a system that works and gave some answers to the nagging doubts he had about the negative state of the world; gathering ten people in a room to expose and discuss their problems was a positive way of getting them to realize that they could solve their issues collectively, as part of a group, rather than mere individuals.
The issue at hand is for a diverse group of work colleagues to determine the fate of one of their former workmates, a young man, Wayne Travers (Luke Ford), who has anger management problems. These were fuelled by a prank at work that went horribly wrong when he discovered that he had been lied to and betrayed by his mates. Wayne is a plank short of a fence (a bit of type-casting for Ford, but once again it works! See The Black Balloon and Animal Kingdom) and unable to fully comprehend why he was sacked for harassing a female employee.
A mediation meeting is set up, headed by Jack Manning (Matthew Newton, perfectly pitched in this role). The workmates (who all give great performances, especially Hakim (Robert Rabiah) gather to give their opinion as to what happened. Wayne is accompanied by his mother Maureen (Lauren Clair) and it is during the session that a lot of the murky past is revealed concerning the relationships between her, the boss, Greg (Vince Colosimo), his gorgeous PA, Laura (Julie Rossiter) and Greg’s long-suffering wife Claire (Sigrid Thornton).
Using the excellent cast and a well-adapted script, Rymer has successfully developed a very watchable, albeit claustrophobic, film. If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that the film never quite breaks away from its stage-play origins. He uses a few flashbacks at the beginning of the film, but made a conscious decision to stick to the one room to, ‘preserve a pressure-cooker intensity’ which he thought made the characters open up to one another. He also states that, ‘this is a small movie, with big ideas’ and he is correct on that score. However, he may be a tad ambitious believing that, ‘maybe a small movie can change things.’ I guess it depends on how many people go to see it and come away with a positive attitude to resolution. I think it is worth it as Face to Face contains a fine ensemble cast who get the opportunity to develop great performances, using a decent Australian script.