Face **** (1997, Robert Carlyle, Steven Waddington, Ray Winstone, Philip Davis, Damon Albarn) – Classic Movie Review 328

A London gang’s ramraid heist on a money-counting depot goes to plan for a change. But it turns out one of their number is a traitor. Who’s the rotten apple? Criminal with a conscience, ex-socialist Ray (Robert Carlyle), simple-minded Stevie (Steven Waddington), hard man Dave (Ray Winstone), nutter Julian (Philip Davis) or dreamy getaway diver Jason (Damon Albarn)?

All action fans will want to find out in director Antonia Bird’s thunderingly-paced, top-notch American-style 1997 crime movie, safely based on a well-crafted screenplay by Ronan Bennett.

Carving himself out a fine career in the 90s, Carlyle provides the film’s calm, solid centre, very different from his Begbie in Trainspotting. Waddington and Winstone give notable back-up, though Davis’s overheated turn goes off the rails several times. Can Blur’s Albarn act? We don’t see enough of him here as Jason in his acting debut here to tell. And he’s made no other acting appearances so far.

It’s a shame that the police-station raid finale is way over the top, obviously an attempt to out-gun all that’s gone before, striking the film’s only false note. Reprehensible morality and violence apart, this is a thriller that thrills, with in-your-face acting and action that blasts its way off the screen.

Antonia Bird died of cancer in October 2013, aged 54. She also made Priest (1994) and Ravenous with Carlyle.

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