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Movies / On DVD / Face
Face

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Face (2004)

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Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:12

Rotten:11

Average Rating:5.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan's directorial debut is an ambitious drama that tells an ultimately uplifting story about the importance of family and the role it plays in shaping a child's life. Genie (Kristy... Bertha Bay-Sa Pan's directorial debut is an ambitious drama that tells an ultimately uplifting story about the importance of family and the role it plays in shaping a child's life. Genie (Kristy Wu) is a Chinese-American teenager who has been raised by her loving grandmother. Through a series of flashbacks, the story of Genie's mother, Kim (Bai Ling), is gradually revealed. It seems that Kim abandoned her daughter just after giving birth to her, when the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy became too painful to bear. Back in present day New York City, Genie has caught the attention of a charming African-American DJ, Michael (Treach), whose constant wooing manages to crack her seemingly impenetrable shell. It is at this point that Kim returns to New York with the hopes of making a connection with Genie, but Genie wants nothing to do with her mother. When Genie's grandmother learns that Michael is black, her traditional sensibilities threaten to ruin the only familial bond Genie has left, forcing Genie to mature at a time when she should still be dizzy with youth. Bay-Sa Pan's sensitive, heartfelt indie drama features marvelous performances by its wide-ranging cast, including Wu, Ling, Treach, and Ken Leung. [More]

Starring: Bai Ling, Kristy Wu, Kieu Chinh, Treach

Starring: Bai Ling, Kristy Wu, Kieu Chinh, Treach, Ken Leung, Will Yun Lee

Director: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan

Director: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan
Screenwriter: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Oren Moverman
Producer: Alexa L. Fogel, Joseph Infantolino, Bertha Bay-Sa Pan
Studio: Indican Pictures

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Face

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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No review available.

comment Comment
09/10/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

The performances are almost enough to overcome the story’s essential inertness.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
08/18/05
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

By the end of Face, we've been drawn deep into the battle for both communal support and individual freedom that marks the progress of so many ethnic groups in America.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
07/29/05
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

With no access to these women's inner selves, we are left wanting at least a fuller portrait of their outer lives, some way to infer the meaning that the film declines to provide.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
05/12/05
Kerry Lengel
Kerry Lengel
Arizona Republic

Ling, delicate and haunted, and Wu, a real spitfire, make their reconciliation sting as much as it soothes.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
04/06/05
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

A film with visual flair, musical inspiration and dramatic gravity. From the top to the bottom of the cast list, there are performances rich in detail and intelligence.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
03/18/05
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger

New Jersey-born, Taiwan-raised director/cowriter Bay-Sa Pan gives the conflict a culturally particular spin and elicits strong performances from her appealing cast.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/18/05
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It's a tale worth telling again -- especially if you feel the material as strongly as recent Columbia film-school grad Bertha Bay-Sa Pan seems to.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
03/18/05
Russell Scott Smith
Russell Scott Smith
New York Post

A sincere but superficial version of a familiar story.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
03/18/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

A meditation on the conflict between family loyalties and personal ambition, Face ... can feel slight on a first viewing. But ... it is likely to remain in your head long afterward.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
03/17/05
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

the director seems all too cognizant of her pedestrian script’s inability to express more than superficial pathos

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/16/05
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Filmcritic.com

The movie never really finds a fresh groove.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/15/05
Laura Sinagra
Laura Sinagra
Village Voice

Bertha Bay-Sa Pan gets good performances -- notably from Ling, who convincingly evolves from mixed-up coed to successful businesswoman.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
03/04/05
E! Online

There's something especially frustrating about small, personal independent movies that adhere to the stodgy conventions of small, personal, independent movies as if compelled by a cadre of militant MFA candidates.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
03/03/05
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Well made, nice performances, very slowly paced.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
03/03/05
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

The story's conflicts between modern and traditional attitudes, family and independence feel like familiar fodder, and the pedestrian approach fails to inject much freshness into the material.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/03/05
David Rooney
David Rooney
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Feels like the stretched-out short student film that it is.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
03/03/05
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

Too slight in realization and trite in characterization to work as it might have.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/28/05
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It is the best performance of [Ling's] eclectic international career, and it raises the level of this otherwise competently made movie to something more special.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/15/04
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle

Face is a film of considerable charm and warmth, even if the material sometimes feels well worn.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
08/26/04
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com
 
 
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