Ray is an ex-socialist who has become a bank-robber after seeing the demise of socialism in 1980s Britain.Teaming up with a gang of other working class criminals, he commits one bank job too many.The gang dissolves in a murderous flurry of recriminations....Birds movie does have flashes of genius, but it does feature too heavy on subliminal socialist propaganda, from the blink and you'll miss it graffiti, to the Ken Loach posters strewn over Rays home.Other than that, it's a solid smoke and mirrors crime movie, sadly shadowed by the slew of Ritchie-esque capers that followed for the next few years.Released near enough at the same time as The Full Monty, yearning to cash in on Carlyle, the film is a different beast altogether. It does have the family struggles that both movies feature, but Carlyle is the only thing that these two movies have in common.The cast are great, and the movie is wonderful right until the final act, when they decide to go all Hollywood with the police siege.With a brilliant soundtrack that epitomises the nineties, if you were not at a certain age at the time of it's release, Face could go well over your head, as just another Geezers in peril yarn.It's so much more intricate than that though.well worth seeing.

That might sound FACEtious however, to some extent Carlyle plays a similar sort of character who is unable to hold down a regular job. (Carlyle always has a look of total anxiety, as if he just opened up a tax audit it from the Inland Revenue). He is believable as Ray a gun welding crook , not a phyco path, but a former lefty who got fed up supporting fringe left-wing causes with nothing to show for it. He decides to earn a living the old fashioned way — 'by stealing it'! Ray struggles to balance a relationship with his mother, girlfriend as well as being troubled by his conscience about what he does. He does not particularly enjoy doing what he does and often wonders if it's worth it baring in mind he has done time in prison.It has the typical big robbery near the beginning where they have just two minutes to get in and out of the security complex, the obligatory 'have a go hero' guard who gets pistol whipped and then the escape. Much to the despair of the gang although they get a reasonable amount of cash by the time they take out expenses and split it 5 ways there not a lot to show for it. Was their poultry whack worth the risk for a 15 year stretch? To make matters worse and more complicated the tables are turned when the money is actually stolen from the gang, presumably by somebody who knows the routine and the gangs movements. Everybody suspects everybody else and Ray desperately tries to hold the gang together despite finger pointing, blame as well as trying to evade the police who are on to them. The next part of the film unfolds around betrayal, double crossing, desperation, evading capture and greed.The cast is good, Ray Winston does his usual, Damien Albarn tries to look tough, the weaselly nutter played by Philip Davis is entertaining and Steve Waddington plays a heavy that loves comics and is totally dependent on Ray for guidance . It's also good to see British veteran character Peter Vaughan no stranger to playing a crook , plus longtime downtrodden Brookside housewife Sue Johnson still rallying to left wing cause as Rays weary but devoted mum.Apart from the robbery there is a couple of big shoot outs, tension, a mystery, treachery and a couple of odd twists which keep up your interest. The conclusion of the movie is probably well balanced in the end most of the unlikable characters get what's coming to them! Despite possible flaws the cast certainly hold the movie together and it's well worth a watch!(Note: the greasy Irish junkie at the beginning was played by none other Gerry Conlon former Guildford bombing suspect whose conviction was quashed a number of years ago.)

Some people will mention "reservoir dogs" but the subject of the movie is hackneyed ;its granddaddy is probably Huston's while the city sleeps" (1950).What is new is the main character's lost illusions.Once politically committed ,he used to follow his mother's path,demonstrating in the streets singing power to the people right on or other slogans .Now the mother has found a new companion,the hero 's partner,Connie, the subject of one of the biggest euphemisms in the British cinema .Carlyle and his" gang" staged a hold-up,unbeknownst to her but "do not panic ,Connie,you have nothing to worry about".Generally it's the director and his favorite actress,but Carlyle and Bird are the rather unusual team of a female director and her favorite actor.And it works ,because of the rapport they have.It's a violent movie with a lot of blood and death.Its main drawback is it's almost impossible to believe Carlyle 's character was once a commie :the short flashbacks are very superficial.he never hints at it,and the audience is unable to relate to what were once his ideals.

Having seen FACE makes you wonder how badly written a script must be for it to be turned down for funding and produced scripts don`t come much worse than Ronan Bennett`s FACE . First of all what`s with the politics ? Ray used to be a commie ? Fair enough , if you can`t be a communist when you`re young when can you be one ? But this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with either the plot or character development . The characters discuss the plight of the Kurds but this leads absolutely nowhere , and it should also be pointed out not all Kurdish groups are alligned to ultra left wing politics either ( Anyone heard of Ansar Al Islam ? ) so Bennett`s made a double blunder on that front . Secondly there`s incidents which like the politics just seem to be included for the sake of it . Remember the firefight of BLACK HAWK DOWN ? Well we see a couple of similar gun battles here . That`s right a British crime thriller emulates the battle of Mogadishu , oh and there`s a bizarre scene of the bad guys opening the boot of their car to let out one of their collegues - who`s been tied up ! - in the middle of a crowded street !! - while the police are searching for them !!! . Finally I wish to apologise if I used the word "Characters " in this review since this may give the impression Bennett has written characters - He hasnt . He`s written cyphers to speak lines and push the plot along . Take Stevie for example who`s written as an idiotic comic book geek but still beats people up when the script demands it Director Antonia Bird manages to rise above the script which when you stop to consider how bad the script is doesn`t come across as much of a compliment - That`s because it`s not supposed to be much of a compliment . Bird too hits us over the head with politics like having buildings covered in political graffiti and anti racist posters . Did I mention there`s no political subtext in this film ? because the director seems to think there might be , and despite enjoying the Britpop soundtrack there`s no real context for having all these songs included . If I remember correctly this was a problem with Bird`s later film RAVENOUS of having a jarring soundtrack and it should be pointed out that often the music drowns out the dialogue which is difficult to make out in the first place due to poor soundmixing It`s difficult to believe after reading this review but I awarded FACE six out of ten mainly due to the cast doing such a great job . Carlyle`s accent is faultless , Phil Davis plays Julian ( Strange name for a psychotic nutter Mr Bennett ? ) with infectious glee and how many other movies have you seen Ray Winstone get into a shoot out while wearing a Dalek T-shirt ?