Skincare

Skincare
Starring Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Luis Gerardo Mendez
Directed by Austin Peters

Being a guy I don't necessarily understand the importance of age-defying makeup, or why someone would want to use all those products to make themselves look like someone different, someone younger. The makeup industry is a multi-billion dollar business and women go crazy over them, so it's no surprise that the business itself is extremely cut-throat. You always have to stay on top, but for every established aesthetician there's a hot up-and-comer out to send them into retirement. But what happens when things get too dicey, and lives end up lost in the process?

Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks) is the premiere celebrity aesthetician who is about to launch her own private line, and everything is going great for her - until Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Mendez) moves in across the street with his own line that's younger, hipper, and fresher. Soon Hope finds her clientele leaving, but that's the least of her problems: someone hacked into her account sending lewd emails to her friends and clients, someone slashes her tires, and she starts receiving threatening calls. She calls on her new friend Jordan (Lewis Pullman) - a former martial artist - to help protect her as she tries to find out who's behind it, but there's one clear name in her mind: Angel.

"Skincare" is at its best when Hope is trying to uncover who's doing these awful things to her, and Elizabeth Banks is more than committed to the role. She plays the role with perfection, exaggerating her motions just enough to make it manic and believable but not so over-the-top that it's a caricature. You feel for her but also kinda wish for her destruction because all she focuses on is herself, but in a way that's endearing and not grating. It's a tightrope act and Banks takes center stage, owning it in her own way.

The film is also darkly humorous, a satirical look at the City of Dreams, also known as Hollywood, where everyone wants to be in their twenties forever and will sacrifice any financial obligations to do so. Hope deals with egotistical, self-absorbed people all the time which is why she is one herself, and they hold no loyalties to anyone. It was funny seeing the women who were once fawning over Hope crossing the street to Angel's new digs and seeing Hope overreact in humorous fashion.

Hope is convinced Angel is behind everything, and she seems blind to the people around her, thinking that they're all for her best interest. Director and co-writer Austin Peters does an excellent job at casting doubt on all of Hope's inner circle to the audience yet leaves her completely clueless, from her long-suffering assistant to the auto mechanic who obviously has a crush on her, to Lewis Pullman's Jordan, a martial artist/motivational speaker who once worked with Hope years earlier. It's not always cut-and-dry, but Luis Gerardo Mendez does pull off Angel as the most likely suspect, showcasing egotistical confidence that goes off like a glaring red flag.

Where the film goes wrong is the last third, where everything spirals out of control like a raging avalanche. Things happen so quickly and without notice that if you blink you'll miss it, and Hope goes from someone in control to someone totally out of control. Yet everything is shot beautifully, Elizabeth Banks sparkles, and it's extremely funny when it needs to be - but ultimately just serves as a mediocre mystery wrapped in striking satirical humor.

The Score: C