Face of a Stranger

Although this is Gena Rowlands' movie, and she does a beautiful job of crafting a society woman with a brave, humanitarian heart, to me the movie belonged to Tyne Daly. This woman continues to amaze me in everything she does. I found myself wondering how she so ably captured the look, posture, speech patterns and outbursts of this mentally disturbed woman. We ache for Dollie as we get some flashbacks into what caused her to lose the life she once had. She inhabits her pain like the heavy, shapeless coat she wears all through the movie. With these two strong actresses, the friendship does not seem unlikely at all. I also liked the fact that the movie did not turn into a diatribe about the plight of the homeless, but rather left one with the thought that, as Pat tells the unsympathetic doorman, "we are all just one step away."