The Man Without a Face (1993)

Chuck wants to leave home but can't make the grade for boarding school. Then he finds out the disfigured recluse living nearby is an ex-teacher.

Director:

Mel Gibson

Writers:

Isabelle Holland (novel), Malcolm MacRury (screenplay)

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Nick Stahl, Margaret Whitton

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Justin McLeod
Nick Stahl	...	Charles E. 'Chuck' Norstadt
Margaret Whitton	...	Catherine Palin
Fay Masterson	...	Gloria Norstadt
Gaby Hoffmann	...	Megan Norstadt
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Chief Wayne Stark
Richard Masur	...	Prof. Carl Hartley
Michael DeLuise	...	Douglas Hall, Gloria's Boyfriend
Ethan Phillips	...	Todd Lansing
Jean De Baer	...	Mrs. Lansing
Jack De Mave	...	Mr. Cooper
Viva	...	Mrs. Cooper
Justin Kanew	...	Rob Lansing
Sean Kellman	...	David Taylor-Fife
Chris Lineburg	...	Scott Pearson

Storyline

The story of a relationship between a teacher and his troubled pupil. Justin McLeod is a former teacher who lives as a recluse on the edge of town. His face is disfigured from an automobile accident and fire ten years before in which a boy was incinerated and for which he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He is also suspected of being a pedophile. He is befriended by Chuck, igniting the town's suspicion and hostility. McLeod instills in his protégé a love of justice and freedom from prejudice which sustains Chuck beyond the end of the film.

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Plot Keywords:

directorial debut | disfigured face | directed by star | coming of age | disfigurement | 

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Taglines:

A fatherless boy had almost given up all his dreams... until one man believed in him enough to make them come true.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

14

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second film with James Horner music, in which Gaby Hoffmann appears. The first was Field of Dreams (1989).

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Goofs

When Gibson is giving Stahl his mock exam results from his truck, you can see a boom mic reflected in the cars windscreen.

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Quotes

Meg: The freak's a teacher? Come on!
Chuck Norstadt: I think he is actually.
Meg: Well what does he teach?
Chuck Norstadt: He makes me dig holes.

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Connections

Referenced in Modern Family: The Last Thanksgiving (2019)

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Soundtracks

THE CHALLENGE
(from RED RIVER)
Written by Dimitri Tiomkin

User Reviews

Brilliant coming of age tale

I didn't know anything about this movie before I have watched it because it was never released in my own country, as well as book was never published. I am not a big fan of Mel Gibson, I thought that he is just average but too overrated actor. So you can understand why I didn't expect too much from this movie. But now, I want to apologize to Mr. Gibson. In this overlooked masterpiece he proves himself incredibly good both as an actor also as a director. The story was absolutely great, realistic and touching. Relations between two main characters – former teacher and young student boy (perfectly played by Mel Gibson and Nick Stahl) were shown as great as it possible. It was for sure best Mel Gibson performance ever. Young Nick Stahl acting also looked incredibly good as Chuck Norstadt. All supporting casts also did a very good job in their roles Director and whole cast team brought to us incredibly powerful atmosphere of total misunderstanding in Chuck family and in the whole town. People can't understand and worst of all they don't want to understand other people, who are not like all ordinary people in their small town. If you're not like all – you're odd and nothing more. This movie teach us never judge people only by appearance and groundless suspicions, teach us always look inside the people. It was very strong, powerful and important messages. All dialogs were very well written and very memorable. In addition to this cinematography and soundtrack were very good.

So, I consider The Man Without a Face as a stunning excellent film, best Mel Gibson film, one the best of the year and one of the best movies I've ever seen. If you're a Mel Gibson fan or simply love films with excellent story and perfect acting I highly recommend this film. Thanks a lot Mel and all people involved in this masterpiece.

My grade 10 out of 10 or A+++

Thanks for reading and sorry for my bad English. Feel free for mailing me about any of my posts and comments here.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'homme sans visage

Filming Locations:

Maine, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,026,775, 29 August 1993

Gross USA:

$24,760,338

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,760,338

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icon Entertainment International, Icon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1