Face/Off A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1997 Michael Redman
***1/2 (out of ****)
Nicolas Cage is on an action film roll. Following the dynamic but flawed Con Air by just a few weeks, "Face/Off" pulls out all the stops for over two hours of non-stop intensity. Director John Woo ("Broken Arrow" and many Hong Kong high-action films) doesn't give the audience a minute to catch their breath.
FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) has spent years of his career hunting Castor Troy (Cage) after the criminal accidentally killed Archer's young son while attempting to kill the agent. In a blinding episode of a blaze of bullets, an airplane crash and more blood than you'd see in an ER; the criminal is captured and in a coma. It's time for celebration, or so they think.
It turns out that there's a megabomb hidden somewhere and the only person who know its location is Troy's psychotic brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola). In order to get the information, Archer undergoes a science-fictiony transplant of Troy's face.
While the lawman is in a secret high security prison as Troy, the real criminal mastermind awakens from his coma literally faceless. Finding Archer's face floating in a jar, he forces the surgeon to attach it to him and then burns the lab and everyone who knows about the operation. This leaves no evidence as to who's actually who.
Archer (now Cage) is stuck in lock-up while Troy (now Travolta) is taking his place in his job and at his home with his wife (Joan Allen). When the agent-who-looks-like-the-criminal inevitably breaks out, he becomes the desperado with his cronies and his babe-with-a-gun (Gina Gershon).
It is to Woo's credit that the movie is as easy to follow as it is. The two actors are also responsible for masterful work. Not only does each have to play his character, he has to play his character playing the other man. Even more difficult, each has to imitate the other actor. Cage and Travolta are both wonders at this, but it is Travolta who has the meatier role. With Archer's face, he is the FBI agent but with Troy's personality, even capturing some of Cage's acting quirks. When he no longer has to masquerade as Archer, but still with his face, Travolta's sneers and whoops are a delight.
Although movies of this genre very rarely pick up Oscars, Travolta certainly deserves one. In a difficult role, the former sweathog gets a chance to strut his stuff.
Climbing into each other's life is a study in shadows for the two men. Troy is obviously touched at the graveside of Archer's son. Archer becomes attached to Troy's young son. Each man is the shadow of the other: they are more alike than they would want to admit. In one scene, wearing each other's likeness they stand on opposite sides of a mirror aiming their guns at themselves but as images of their enemies. If not for the other, they would only be half a person.
Woo's signature style is in full bloom. Blood splatters everywhere, bodies fall like flies, Troy is blown down a tunnel by a jet engine, Archer escapes from a police copter by diving hundreds of feet into the ocean. There are more bullets in this film than are fired in a major military battle. Oddly enough for two men who live by the gun, thousands of shots fired at each other fail to find their targets.
"Face/Off" looks to be the best action this summer. There may be better films, but it's difficult to imagine any more thrilling.
[This appeared in the 7/3/97 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be reached at mredman@bvoice.com ]
-- mailto:mredman@bvoice.com
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