Face villain failing to start exchange (8)
I believe the answer is:
dialogue
'exchange' is the definition.
(an exchange of words)
'face villain failing to start' is the wordplay.
'face' becomes 'dial' (face of a clock).
'villain' becomes 'rogue' (rogue is a kind of villain).
'failing to start' means to remove the first letter.
'rogue' with its initial letter removed is 'ogue'.
'dial'+'ogue'='DIALOGUE'
(Other definitions for dialogue that I've seen before include "brought into play perhaps" , "The words spoken by characters in a play" , "Talks" , "Lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction" , "Conversation between two people" .)