Stars: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon, Alessandro Nivola, Nick Cassavetes, C.C.H. Pounder, Harve Presnell, Kirk Baltz, Colm Feore, Paul Hipp, Steve Hytner, Linda Hoffman, Matt Ross, Thomas Jane, Chris Bauer, John Carroll Lynch, Dominique Swain, Tommy Flanagan, Margaret Cho, Robert Wisdom, Myles Jeffrey, Lisa Boyle, Jamie Denton, Danny Masterson, Megan Paul, Ben Reed, Tom Reynolds, Michael Rocha, Lauren Sinclair, Dana Smith, Carmen Thomas, Romy Walthall, Mike Webb, Del Zamora, John Bloom

Director: John Woo

Summary: FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) undergoes surgery allowing him to switch faces with the comatose terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) in order to enable Sean to avenge the senseless murder of his son. When Castor awakes he assumes Sean's identity plunging Sean into a nightmare situation where he ends up fighting for his life and that of his wife and daughter.

The ordeal of super-heroic, singularly dedicated FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta – BLOW OUT, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER) is only beginning after finally capturing his arch nemesis, Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage – WILD AT HEART, NATIONAL TREASURE), an elusive, maniacal terrorist who claimed the life of Archer's son. While Troy languishes in a coma, Archer surgically 'borrows' Troy's face in an attempt to gather evidence about Troy's last bomb--which is currently ticking away in a Los Angeles office building. Trouble ensues when Troy wakes up faceless, borrows Archer's visage, and makes a mess of Archer's life; all the while, both men struggle to adapt to their new identities while struggling to blow each other away.

Another balletic, thematically complex action smorgasbord from Hong Kong action director John Woo (HARD BOILED, THE KILLER), FACE/OFF is the perfect showcase for the acting talents of Travolta and Cage, each spending most of the film perfectly imitating the other. The pair are also ably supported by Joan Allen (THE CONTENDER, THE ICE STORM), Allesandro Nivola (I WANT YOU, GOAL!) and Gina Gershon (BOUND, SHOWGIRLS).

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Average User Rating:

Reviewed by: philreyn
Posted on October 5, 2005 12:40 PM

This is what happens when you combine two of the worlds top actors with John Woo, a rollercoaster of action from the start. You can't fault the performance of Travolta or Cage, who take over each others roles in this bizarre way. The movie is overloaded with action, humour, and suspense with some clever twists along the way. Typical of a John Woo movie, but with a can't fail cast. I found this a very original, and entertaining film, showing the relationship of two men hell bent on destroying each other ,in the most unusual set of circumstances.

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At his best, director John Woo turns action movies into ballets of blood and bullets grounded in character drama. Face/Offmarks Woo's first American film to reach the pitched level of his best Hong Kong work (Hard-Boiled). He takes a patently absurd premise--hero and villain exchange identities by literally swapping faces in science-fiction plastic surgery--and creates a double-barrelled revenge film driven by the split psyches of its newly redefined characters. FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) must play the villain to move through the underworld while psychotic terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) becomes a perversely paternal family man, while using every tool at his disposal to destroy his nemesis. Travolta vamps Cage's tics and flamboyant excess with the grace of a dancer after his transformation from cop to criminal, while Cage plays the sullen, bottled-up agent excruciatingly trapped behind the face of the man who killed his son. His attempts to live up to the terrorist's reputation become cathartic explosions of violence that both thrill and terrify him. This is merely icing on the cake for action fans, the dramatic backbone for some of the most visceral action thrills ever. Woo fills the screen with one show-stopping set-piece after another, bringing a poetic grace to the action freakout with sweeping camerawork and sophisticated editing. This marriage of melodrama and mayhem ups the ante from cops-and-robbers clichés to a conflict of near-mythic levels. --Sean Axmaker

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Action Overload, Cast Biographies, Theatrical Trailer
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1997
Release Date:	June 11, 2001
Runtime:	133 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888316
Keywords:	Face, Off, General, Wide, Screen, Thriller
Genre:	Thriller