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Face/Off

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Face/Off (1997)
Director
Genre Action
Played 3
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Average rating 76%
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Face/Off overview

The third of John Woo's American-made feature films, Face/Off stars John Travolta as Sean Archer, an FBI agent obsessed with capturing Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), a criminal genius who years before killed Archer's son while trying to assassinate the agent. Archer's single-minded pursuit of Troy has caused serious harm to his marriage, but Archer thinks the light may have appeared at the end of the tunnel when a seriously wounded Troy is captured in a bloody shootout. However, it turns out that Troy has planted a time bomb, with a biological payload that could destroy the entire city of Los Angeles -- and Troy isn't about to say where it is. The only other person who knows the bomb's location is Troy's brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola), who is no more helpful than Castor. FBI scientists hatch a plan: they have developed an experimental surgery which would allow them to graft Troy's face temporarily on Archer's head and allow him to question Pollux as if he were his brother. But after Archer has taken Troy's face, Troy regains consciousness and forces the doctors to give him Archer's face. Now the criminal mastermind has the FBI at his disposal, and the lawman is underground with few places to turn. Along with Woo's usual elaborately choreographed action scenes, Face/Off features a number of notable supporting performances, including Joan Allen as Archer's wife, Colm Feore and C.C.H. Pounder as FBI scientists, and Gina Gershon as Troy's loyal but long-suffering girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

News & Reviews

Face/Off News & Reviews

"An FBI agent, Sean Archer (John Travolta) has been hunting jet-set super-criminal Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) for years. "
4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5
03 February 2008
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"FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) is riding on a carousel with his 5-year-old son. "
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"Swapped identities allow John Woo to wow in his best American film so far as John Travolta and Nicolas Cage face off and go for each other big time. "
5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5
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"FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) knows how to stop elusive terrorist Castor Troy (Cage). "
4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5
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"It's the picture that proves action films don't have to be silly, that a few thrill sequences don't mean every other value has to be shot to pieces."
5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5
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comments

Face/Off comments

bevbrad2004
"Okay action. Bit weird but okay"
by bevbrad2004, 14:20 17 July 2009
9lives
" One of my favourite jibes is 'you mustn't be two faced because if you were you'd wear the other one'. Not that I'd consider saying that to either John Travolta or Nicolas Cage after what they've been through in this movie.Sean Archer (Travolta - "Broken Arrow", "Michael") is the Chief of a special covert FBI task-force. They've spent years on the trail of terrorist, Caster Troy (Cage - "Con Air", "City of Angels") and Archer in particular is looking to avenge the murder of his young son by Troy. In an airplane hanger shoot-out, Archer finally gets his man. However, he is soon told that the dying Troy and his imprisoned brother (and partner-in-crime), Pollux Troy (Alessandro Nivaro), have planted a bomb in the city and they have no way of finding it before it kills thousands of people..Knowing that the only person Pollux would talk to about the bomb is his brother, Archer agrees to undergo state-of-the-art surgery which replaces his face and voice with that of Caster, whom the FBI have kept alive underground. Archer, under the guise of Caster Troy, goes to the prison and attempts to solicit the information from "his" brother. The plan goes pear-shaped though when the real Troy arises from his coma and takes on the identity of his nemesis, Sean Archer. With roles reversed and so much at stake, it's only a matter of time before both the protagonists face off.When it comes to invention and originality, the plot of "Face/Off" is right up there. The whole premise of two people swapping actual physical identities is up there in the realms of science fiction. Somehow though the plot remains strangely believable. Most of the credit for this goes to the two main stars who are each called upon to deliver two very different performances in one movie. While Travolta's tough guy image is a specialist taste (I enjoy it for what it's worth), Cage is equally adept at delivering both a heart-warming and a brazen, aggressive performance and he does so here brilliantly. Also worth a mention is Archer's wife, Eve (Allen), who is excellent as the spouse who is let down just a little too often.Director John Woo, was responsible for one of the worst Hollywood movies ever ("Broken Arrow") and his erratic career is further emphasised by the fact that this is one of Hollywood's best action flicks. His trademark slow motion sequences are carried out well, if a little excessively at times, and the action set-pieces are mind-blowingly entertaining demonstrating a superb use of panning and sound.In addition, the emotive issues in the movie (Archer's loss of his son and his inability to get over it, his wife struggling to come to terms with her husbands busy and dangerous vendetta against Troy) are handled sensitively and succeed in staying away from the more 'nauseating' angle that many action films have suffered from in the past (any Stallone rubbish for example).Great storyline, excellent performances, superb direction, immaculate production and maximum entertainment. But damn it, I never give five stars to anyone. Ok, maybe this once."
by 9lives, 13 April 2008