The Man Without a Face (1993)

Directed by Mel Gibson. Starring Nick Stahl, Mel Gibson, Margaret Whitton, Fay Masterson, Gaby Hoffman, Richard Masur, Geoffrey Lewis, Zach Grenier, Michael DeLuise. [PG-13]

In 1960s New England, young Stahl is so determined to pass an entrance exam into a military academy, he’s willing to seek tutoring from the local “freak” (Gibson), a disfigured man who lives a semi-hermetic existence and is the subject of much gossip in the community. When this flawed drama focuses on the central characters and teacher-student relationship (one which, of course, develops into an association between “father figure” and “son he never had” types), it works, but there are a lot of murky or outright missing details on the fringes and in the personal motivations. The kid’s academic drive and contentious family life are introduced but not explored beyond narrative checkpoint or cliché, and a late revelation involving accused sexual abuse creates unnecessary (and unseemly) clutter, presumably for the sake of cheap dramatic payoffs; reportedly, the book upon which the script is based (by Isabelle Holland) takes it much further. Gibson’s directorial debut, with all the expected earnestness intact, but none of the graphic violence. Music by James Horner, his first of three collaborations to date with the director (Braveheart, Apocalypto).

64/100