John Marley plays a fatted-calf spawn of affluent suburbia, who is tired of his wife (Lyn Carlin) JUST BECAUSE!!..He goes off with Gena Rowlands, who condones infidelity if it is conditionally based on a bond between two people, and not just for purposes of sordid sex..The common ground all of the characters in the movie share is not love nor understanding, but as is often the case... ALCOHOL!!!.. The director, John Cassevetes, is once again superb in his character portrayal of morally inept people who rely on their misguided self-serving interests and callous logic to carry them through their meaningless pursuits.. Before we do anything, let's pour another drink...We act the way the alcohol tells us to act, the convoluted line of logic being " I can't help what I did and said, the highly toxic cocktails made me act that way".... These antics are more adolescent than anyone could possibly imagine, yet they go under the guise of sophisticated fun!! Such charades fall into the category of extremely dangerous thrills..both emotionally and physically as well!! A precariously select set of upscale Los Angeles clicks have unearthed an onslaught of social misgivings about themselves which have plummeted them down to a pathetically denigrating conscious pitfall level!! These fragile and ominous emotions inevitably become purulent once these individuals' drunken stupors have punctured them open!! SO NOW!! HUSBAND AND WIFE HAVE PLAYED SWITCHIES!!.. What's next?..For starters, they've been painfully reminded that their lives have been obviated from happiness and even contentment!!.. Self destruction is so ugly it just cannot be ignored!! Nothing works for me, nothing works for my spouse, nothing works for my mistress, nothing works for anybody!!!...Their ultimate undoing is not necessarily the marital infidelity on it's own right, but rather, emotions that are predicated on unscrupulous gratification, and a volatile unwillingness to empathize with anyone or anything!!! John Cassevetes evokes a cynicism in this film that touches the core of non-productive selfishness.. Itemization of the character's unchanging flaws is an aspect of behavior that Cassevetes implements in virtually every one of his films... Cassevetes articulates an introverted disarray with his characters in "Faces" by way of manufacturing a set of prevailing circumstances being such whereby the most felonious afflictions with all of the people in the movie are directly attributed to an affluent monotony, as well as an executive class alienation!! The end result of such a fate has fatalistic repercussions!! Cassevetes did not consult with the actors and actresses in this movie, once he assigned them their character roles, he then told them that they now owned these roles and they should treat them accordingly!! The camera angles in "Faces" are spectacular as they illustrate the pejorative reactions of perplexing curiosity with virtually everyone in the film!! Cassevetes is brilliant...Usually the debate is how brilliant...I say EXTREMELY BRILLIANT!!!... However!! I am not a professional movie critic!! SORRY ABOUT THAT JOHN!!! A great director does not even consider himself a director, rather, someone who just understands people... This is what I heard anyway!!!... John Cassevetes goes out on a limb by being so overtly non-conventional.. Guess what?...It definitely works!!!! AN UTTERLY OUTSTANDING MOVIE!!
Review of Faces
