Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.5

The Last Face Blu-ray Movie Review

No one could save this 'Face'.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 5, 2017

It’s probably unfair to judge a person based on impressions they’ve given you in their (very) public life, but, hey, (Biblical proscriptions aside) judging is what I do for a living, so here goes. He may be a very nice man in person, but for whatever reason Sean Penn has always struck me as a bit self absorbed and haughty, unable to laugh at himself or his foibles. Penn has certainly done inarguably fine work as an actor and even as a director, and some of his altruistic impulses, as when he helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, are above reproach. Those chits in the “good boy” column are balanced against some of Penn’s more questionable antics, including cuddling up to various dictators and of course flexing his journalistic (?) muscles when he interviewed El Chapo. The Last Face, Penn’s latest directorial effort, may well have begun with good intentions fully intact, but it’s one of those overly labored, ultra serious affairs that comes off as, well, self absorbed and haughty, as well as somewhat pretentious. Charlize Theron portrays Wren Petersen, a physician working for the real life organization Doctors of the World, ostensibly attempting to help a region devastated by war and poverty. When she meets another doctor named Miguel Leon (Javier Bardem), romantic sparks at least intermittently fly, with the film’s screenplay (by Erin Dignam) waffling as to whether it wants to be a social activism screed or a star-crossed lovers in purgatory affair. The result is a pretty uneven mishmash, one that not even the star power of Theron and Bardem can successfully rescue.

It’s hard to know what exactly Penn was aiming for with The Last Face. On one level, there’s a whole human rights angle that’s also folded into a corollary horrors of war aspect that would seem to be Penn’s philosophical stock in trade, but why, then, does he linger on lyrical visions of insects, flowers or wildlife at various (often interminable) points? To simply point out lesser forms of collateral damage? And if this is supposed to spark the consciences of westerners about events going on in far off Africa, why muddy the waters with a love story that is equal parts Douglas Sirk and Nicholas Sparks.

There’s some indication that perhaps Erin Dignam’s screenplay was a longer, more fleshed out, affair, this even though the completed film clocks in at well over two hours. A relentless series of voiceovers supposedly gives context, backstory, and segues, all the things you’d expect a more accomplished screenplay to actually depict rather than describe. This gambit alone adds an inevitable distance between what is being depicted, since it more or less implies an omniscient narrator who’s already made it through the events. While probably less problematic in terms of some of the war torn data being proffered, the endless narration really tends to undercut any energy from the romantic side of things.

One would think with all of the political posturing going on concerning the worldwide refugee crisis that Penn and Dignam might have been able to craft an expertly moving document showing how these poor souls end up in dire straits and are desperate to find some refuge. But instead the whole human tragedy angle is needlessly subsumed in the romance between Wren and Miguel, and even that gets subsumed in a really tawdry subplot involving previous dalliances and implied jealousy. It’s just ridiculous and it is almost insulting in a way that the real tragedy of what’s going on in parts of the African continent have been virtually shamelessly utilized as “color”.

The film’s overheated dialogue only adds to the florid ambience that informs most of the film. Bardem and Theron do what they can, but they’re playing types, not characters, and unfortunately even with the likes of Jean Reno filling out the supporting roles, there’s very little meat on any part’s bones, and so we’re left to ponder over lingering shots of insects and plant life, wondering what, if anything, they have to do with either a crisis burying an entire continent or the fractured romance between two conflicted doctors.

The Last Face Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Last Face is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Technical data on the shoot is sparse, though one site credits a generic "HD", meaning digital capture, and the look of Barry Ackroyd's cinematography has the sleek, sharp and generally extremely well detailed look of that technology. The film seems to associate "shaky cam" with verité "truthfulness", and so clarity is at least variable from time to time simply because the camera is darting to and fro. The impressive location work offers some vast vistas (sometimes with disturbing elements like huge refugee encampments), many of which feature substantial depth of field. Penn goes for the Art House crowd with several dewy framings of his charismatic stars, and occasionally fine detail levels suffer due to overly stylized lighting and even some momentary focus pulling challenges. Penn and Ackroyd also indulge in some fairly unusual grading and/or lighting choices that suffuse scenes with deep cobalt hues, though detail levels rarely if ever falter.

The Last Face Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Perhaps unexpectedly, given the political subtext simmering underneath The Last Face's love story, the film has a rather large amount of pop and rock source cues, something that, along with Hans Zimmer's somewhat portentous score, offer good surround activity on the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. A lot of the film takes place outside, where well placed ambient environmental sounds offer a lifelike recreation of "instant urban" environments created by the refugees. There are a number of good panning effects in scenes involving helicopters or other fast moving items. Dialogue (such as it is) is offered very cleanly and with excellent prioritization on this problem free track.

The Last Face Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Picturing: The Last Face (1080p; 10:51) is a standard issue EPK, with some decent interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the completed film.

The Last Face Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sean Penn may have done better to simply forget the whole star-crossed lovers angle and simply have made a documentary on this war torn region, for some of the most visceral content here is the weirdly "tangential" (to the main story) sight of beautiful little kids getting blown to smithereens. Theron and Bardem do what they can with substandard material, but the writing is often ineffective and Penn's overly arty approach to this gritty subject matter doesn't help much in the long run. Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase.