Face the Music

OK, the story is fairly predictable, and the music is hardly great, though I've heard much worse singers than Molly Ringwald in my time. But I enjoyed this film, which is full of quirky characters and situations. The movie producer's nephew Donny steals quite a few scenes, and there's a very odd workman whose scenes give the impression that possibly some subplot involving him has been cut. That's not to say the two leads do a bad job, and I enjoyed watching both Molly Ringwald as Lisa (lyrics) and Patrick Dempsey as Charlie (composer). Lysette Anthony does her best with her role as the new woman in Charlie's life though the script perhaps could have been a bit more subtle where she's concerned.

I can imagine this film as a thirties screwball comedy, or perhaps as a stage farce, and it might have been funnier and better directed in either case, but I still find it oddly enjoyable.

This isn't a film that takes itself too seriously, and if you come to it willing to be entertained rather than looking to rip it to shreds you probably won't be as disappointed as the 1/10 reviews suggest.

Accually I did find the movie funny in most parts. Patrick Dempsey was coming out of his geek days and he actually started to look like "A younger McDreamy". Molly Ringwald CANNOT sing to save her life but you cant hate her for that. Her character made me laugh a lot during the movie. What is the deal with Patrick Dempsey and adultery? every movie/show i have seen of him thats what is is doing. (but can you blame the women?)The plot was likable. This movie was very predicable and also pretty short. I did like the movie producers nephew...he was great, and super funny. At the beginning of the movie I wondered if it was ever worth watching but about 30 minutes into the movie I really liked it a lot. over all I'll give it a B.

I had no idea this movie was supposed to take place in France until a character mentioned going to the Eiffel Tower. I figured this was a bad sign of things to come. There were several instances when the background music almost drowned out the dialogue.

The disorientation continues throughout. The editing of this film felt disjointed. There were multiple instances of cutting between two scenes in a way that felt unnecessary and jarring. It interrupted the pacing of a scene.

The most impressive part of this film is how many scenes there are of Molly Ringwald wearing just a towel in public spaces. It's a surprisingly high number and there seems to be no reason for it, unless there's some symbolism totally lost on me.

Although the acting in this movie is really not all that great, and ms. Ringwalds singing attemps might make your feet cringe, it is in fact a rather chraming little movie, and Molly Ringwald shows the stuff that made a lot of guys growing up in the 80's have a wicked crush on her. Ofcourse the ending is predictable from the first 2 minutes into the movie, but it does have it moments.

As a general rule, I love crappy 90s movies starring 80s has-beens, so I had particularly high hopes for Face The Music. It has a dream cast with Molly Ringwald, the 80s poster child herself, and Patrick "I expose my buttocks a lot" Dempsey. It is a musical drama, a genre always loaded with cult potential. It even has a bloated Molly Ringwald lying around on a piano, miming to bad country music. And yet, Face The Music is still a pretty dismal affair.

The story is ridiculous. Molly plays Lisa, a singer/songwriter working in a Parisian club. Patrick is Charlie, a songwriter who discovers Lisa. After re-writing one of Lisa's terrible songs, Lisa is an overnight success and Charlie asks her to marry him at an awards ceremony. They live happily on a boat until Charlie sends a song to a rival singer. The film picks up three years later when Lisa's manager brings them together to write a song for a movie despite the fact that Charlie is about to get married to Julie, another familiar 80s face Lysette Anthony.

The film really goes down hill when Lisa moves into Julie's farmhouse to write with Charlie. Lisa and Julie take turns acting like a shrew, while Charlie keeps mumbling about "feeling the music". The assistant Donnie, who I assume was intended to be comedic relief, wanders around the farm like an idiot. Even the music contained in the film is bad, the song they come up with about catching rainbows is unspeakably horrendous.

Face The Music is a disappointment but not a complete waste of time. It's always fun to watch Molly, even if she does spend most of the film walking around in a very unflattering bath towel. Patrick Dempsey looks a bit bored but shows some of the appeal that has kept him working in films for the past 20 years without a starring role in a box office hit to his credit.

This movie is incredibly mediocre but it could have been worse. It could have been "Glitter". Fans of Molly and Patrick will find something to enjoy here.