Reality TV has always been ripe for satire. The whole concept is vaguely bizarre with supposed ordinary people going about their lives for audience amusement. How such a genre can be entertaining is open to debate but those using it as a comedic basis have generally been more successful. About Face is one of those productions. Taking a wicked swipe at the notion of instant celebrity and its trappings, it makes one ponder what one sees is never always real.
Hosting a hit TV show about plastic surgery, Bella (Laura Chiatti) is a beloved star. Along with her surgeon husband Rene (Alessandro Preziosi), their reality series about clients having various procedures has been an enduring hit. When a drop in ratings is blamed on Bella’s ageing looks, she is replaced. Her shattered pride is further wrecked after becoming involved in a car crash. Apparently disfigured and abandoned, Bella aims to use the reality TV medium to her own advantage to gain revenge.
About Face gleefully savages a genre reliant on people’s greed and lust for fame. Bella and Rene are a morally empty duo using reality TV as a means to an end. Enjoying its glamour, their actions define their bankrupt convictions. Their hangers-on are just as bad with opportunities in making a fast buck always sought. With an eager public desperate for the latest gossip, their appetite fuels the characters’ predatory natures.
These elements make for a generally engaging comedy. About Face goes for the comedic jugular leaving no stone unturned. The hypocrisy of those shunning supposed ugliness in favour of what some constitute as ‘beauty’ is laid bare. This mostly works in generating laughs with its twists and turns genuinely surprising. The performers conjure some great comic timing that enlivens the brisk run-time.
The best comedies are ones taking risks, which About Face certainly does. Exposing the glorification of grotesque behaviour in the name of TV ratings, it provides a welcome antidote to the glut of purely fantastical shows masquerading as ‘reality television’.
Reviewed by Parick Moore
Rating out of 10: 7
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