Ed Harris and Annette Bening in The Face of Love (Toronto International Film Festival)

Annette Bening and Ed Harris star in a romantic drama about grief and the inability to accept loss. Bening plays Nikki, a middle-aged widow who has lost her longtime husband, Garrett (played by Harris), in a drowning accident. The film opens with Nikki sitting by her backyard pool, wincing at memories of the couple celebrating their 30th anniversary in Mexico. A series of shots depict the two dining, dancing, and reveling in the still very potent love they have for one another. The montage in Mexico ends with Garrett washed upon the shore, dead.

Five years later, Nikki has returned to a somewhat normal life. Though she has purged her home of anything reminiscent of Garrett, and no longer enjoys her once-loved swimming routine, she finds comfort in her widower neighbor Roger (a subdued Robin Williams). On a whim, Nikki returns to a museum she and Garrett used to frequent, where she spots a man (also played by Harris) with an uncanny resemblance to her late husband. After some detective work, Nikki tracks the man down at a local college, where he teaches an art class. Struck by his identical appearance to Garrett, Nikki recruits Tom to give her painting lessons, and the two begin a courtship despite Nikki’s concealment of some crucial facts.

The Face of Love is more a character study than an epic cinematic affair.  There is nothing bold or outstanding about the imagery, sound, or setting. Instead, the story is incredibly personal. However, there is a dual purpose to this intimacy. While the viewer is practically experiencing the relationship between Tom and Nikki, they are also tuned in to Nikki’s unraveling sanity from the very beginning.

In an early scene, Nikki discusses her grieving process with Roger. Despite her confession that she is still very much in love with Garrett, and can’t bear to look at his possessions anymore, she has a serene smile during the entire conversation. In the opening sequence, she presses the shards of a broken wine glass into her palm until she bleeds. Within a few minutes into the film, the viewer is presented with the notion that maybe our protagonist has lost a bit of her sanity along with her husband. As Tom falls more in love with Nikki, bewildered that a woman could love him so much, it becomes apparent that Nikki is, indeed, losing her grasp on reality. She begins making verbal references to Tom as if he is Garrett, and sometimes even refers to him by that name.

There is only one word to truly describe this film, and that is sad. Watching a woman who was once so in love with her husband making it through each day on the crumbs of memories doesn’t make for a riveting movie experience, but a heart-wrenching one for certain. Bening’s delivery as Nikki is subtle and convincing, and Ed Harris provides a hefty amount of charisma and chemistry. It is well acted, written, and directed, but it doesn’t possess any terribly unique qualities. It’s ironic ending, which I of course won’t spoil here, is also a bit too sentimental.