Face/Off

A Movie by John Woo

With John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon and others

Christina says:

By way of a brandnew surgical technique evil Castor Troy's (Nicolas Cage) face is removed and implanted on the head of FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta). Archer hopes to find out where a giant bomb is hidden in L. A. and the only person who knows is Troy's paranoid brother Pollux. Castor awakens from his coma, steals Archer's face and kills everybody who knows about it.

This story would have made an interesting science fiction thriller. Especially one that stars John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Unfortunately John Woo was the director, and he made an action movie by the book. I don't know if Hollywood ruined his talent or if his older movies are better because I never saw any of them and now I probably never will. I'm sure that the story would have provided room for stunts and special effects. But it seemed as if Woo just worked off a check list of stunts and didn't care about the story at all. The best example was the speed boat chase at the end of the movie, however well done.

Shootings shot in slow motion may be Woo's trademark, but did he have to shoot half the movie in slow motion? After a while I wanted to push the fast forward button, but unfortunately there was no remote. Many people liked the scene at the church, but no matter what Woo was paying homage to, the pidgeons were pure kitsch.

In the beginning Archer and Troy were nothing but clichés. After the face switching Travolta played Cage and Cage Travolta. And surprisingly both did a very good job. The movie would have been much better if Woo had relied more on his top actors. But whenever they went into high gear Woo went to slow motion mode.

At least Gina Gershon and Joan Allen didn't have to portray the brainless bimbos who usually grace the scene in action movies. Dominique Swain as Archer's daughter fill the void, though. The rest of the cast are not worth mentioning.

Monika says:

To get straight to the point: Face/Off is based on a brillant idea for an intelligent action movie, but unfortunately turns out to be a third rate Hollywood flick. The beginning seems promising enough: two men who are as different as can be exchange their lives. One does so willingly, the other has no choice.

John Travolta is FBI agent Sean Archer whose son is killed by a bullet meant for him. Archer is a bundle of virtues: a good husband, loving father and loyal law enforcement officer. Whereas Travolta played a not-so-holy angel in MICHAEL in this movie he is the guardian of law, order and justice. Until he finds himself stuck with the face of gangster Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) and suddenly has to play the opposite part. He does that quite well. Another plus for Travolta: he doesn't dance.

Nicolas Cage is gangster Castor Troy who falls into a coma after being shot and wakes up to realize that his face is gone. So of course he takes the doctors hostage and forces them to give him Archer's face. To destroy the evidence of what he has done Troy burns down the clinic so nobody knows about Archer's true identity anymore. The change of identity is perfect. From now on Cage 'is' Travolta and Travolta 'is' Cage.

Unfortunately this is also the point when the script becomes increasingly obscure. The writers seemed to think that an audience who buys the face transplant will believe virtually anything. Maybe it would have been more believable if the protagonists had been more physically alike. But the fact that a wife has to do a blood test to verify her husband's identity is a bit too much. She might have noticed that her husband has gone from model citizen to despicable creep. This seems even stranger considering that Travolta isn't quite as good as Cage when it comes to acting like the other one. But these are only minor deficiencies of the script.

What weighs more heavily is the fact that the last half hour of the movie consists only of action movie cliches. There are wild shoot-outs, but the climax is a speed boat chase that - finally - brings on the obligatory explosions. They show us three in a row, each one more impressive than the one before. After all the pyrotechnists have to work for their money . Unfortunately John Woo had no more original idea for a finale, when we already had begun to doubt a boat this size would explode so easily while watching SPEED 2. But this ending wouldn't have been too bad, if they had just removed the dead and wounded and been done with that.

Well, things can always get worse. The movie ends with a big family reunion that seems to be a new Hollywood trend in action movies. FACE/OFF meets CON AIR. Too bad, Mr. Woo. That didn't work.

Any comments?
Write us:
Monika Hübner
Christina Gross