Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Wonderful biopic on film legend Lon Chaney. Played by early film great James Cagney. I love classic horror and enjoy learning about film history and those who pioneered the industry. Lon Chaney being one of them, is one who I still knew very little about. Though the film was loosely based upon his life. However, It still was able to capture some great highlights of his career and personal life. Lon Chaney's life was far from easy. Born to deaf parents, he struggled and was treated harshly as a youth. His adult life was riddled with tragedy in the midst of his success. His first wife , who he would have his first and only child with. Attempted suicide during the course of their rocky marriage. I was very moved by the great performances of the cast. In particular, James Cagney who's portrayal of Lon Chaney was phenomenal. Though Lon is remembered mostly for his horror performances, he was much more versatile and appeared in 157 films. Many which are now lost. A master and early pioneer as a makeup artist. Chaney's Phantom, now 93 years old, was beyond it's years and still genuinely terrifying today. INSTAGRAM: @totally_rad_vhs

IMO - This 1957 bio-pic of famed silent-era actor and make-up artist, Lon Chaney failed to rise above being mere mediocrity for the most part.For one thing - Not only did I find that actor, James Cagney was not at all suited for his part as Chaney - But, Cagney was nearly 60 at the time of this production and he did a mighty poor job of convincingly portraying a man who was only 30.Another problem with this presentation was that it, unfortunately, turned Chaney's private life into too much of a soap opera for my liking.As I understand it - This film was largely a fictionalized account of Chaney's life. In reality - Chaney was a notoriously private man who shunned "Hollywood" publicity as much as he could.*Note* - In 1930 - Lon Chaney (47 at the time) died of lung cancer.

* Like many Hollywood bio-pics MOATF is indeed more about entertaining the movie-going audience rather than being 100% accurate. It is a mix of fact and fiction/legend. However Cagney's recreation of many of Lon Chaney Sr's many movie character scenes especially. The Miracle Man make this movie indeed worth watching and enjoying over and over. Regardless of movie's inaccuracies Chaney was indeed a genius and the movie tells that part of his story well.

"Loosely based....". When I hear this about a bio-pic, it is a complete turnoff to me. I think some it was because I was a history teacher--and to me, history is sacred--you tell it exactly like it was. Yet, in so many Hollywood films, the truth isn't deemed interesting enough and they heavily embellish the picture. Thus is the story of Lon Chaney in "The Man of a Thousand Faces". While the main points are correct, Chaney's interesting life just wasn't interesting enough for the folks at Universal and they played fast and loose with some of the facts. I didn't like this--but must acknowledge that it was an entertaining story.However, there is one other issue about the film about which I have a unique perspective. Like Chaney, I have a deaf family member--in my case, my daughter. And because of this, I can talk about a few things the average viewer wouldn't notice. When the people are using sign language in the film, they really are using sign language--though they do it a bit poorly. As a result, you can see that the parents of Chaney in the film are not natural signers--but I appreciate that they tried. One thing I did not appreciate, however, is that the film seemed to exploit Chaney's parents--creating problems that did not exist in real life. For example, when Chaney's first wife meets them, she has no idea they are deaf--but this was NOT the case in real life and it just felt cheap--like they were capitalizing on their deafness for the sake of a plot gimmick. That was pretty sad.Aside from my complaints and observations, I still think this is a very good film. Just understand it all is heavily dramatized and you can take some of it with a grain of salt. Also, it was nice to see the silent comic Snub Pollard in a bit scene midway through the film.