The late 1990s had a lot to offer in the action film department. One of the most celebrated entries was the 1997 sci-fi thriller Face/Off. Directed by John Woo, the film tested an audience’s suspension of disbelief by asking them to believe that two men could swap faces and that no one they interact with would be able to tell the difference.
The film stars John Travolta, riding high off his mid-’90s resurgence thanks to Pulp Fiction, as FBI Agent Sean Archer. He is hell-bent on taking down his arch-nemesis, the deliciously villainous Castor Troy, portrayed by Nicolas Cage. We learn from the opening credits that Troy was responsible for taking the life of Archer’s son in a failed assassination attempt on Archer himself, setting up Archer’s strong motivation.
Within the first 15 minutes of Face/Off, Woo delivers a gripping action scene at an airport hangar, where Archer finally subdues and captures Troy. Despite having Troy in custody and in a coma, the celebrations are short-lived as intelligence tells the FBI that Troy has planted a bomb in LA, set to detonate soon. With Troy indisposed and his little brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) in an offshore prison, the options for finding the bomb shrink rapidly.
Archer’s tumultuous career mirrors his home life. His wife, Eve (Joan Allen), is distant because her husband has devoted his time and energy to a criminal. Their daughter, Jamie (Dominique Swain), acts out at school in defiance and frustration. The man finally gets a win and cannot truly celebrate it.
With Troy comatose, Archer undertakes a procedure to surgically replace his face with Troy’s, infiltrate the prison, gather intel from the brother Pollux, get out of jail, swap faces back, save the day, and finally relax. Bing, bang, boom.
The procedure is hokey and silly. But that’s the charm here. Details are discussed, from hairlines, love handles, and voice boxes to making John Travolta look like Nicolas Cage. Other information that is far from nebulous is accounted for, like height and eye color. Despite the fancy medical dialogue and computer graphics, the surgery is still unbelievable. Instead of Frankenstein’s monster, we get Frankenstein’s monster’s brother. Because Face/Off is science fiction and stylized action, we buy it anyway.
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I won’t walk through every plot point. The story is simple enough. After Troy wakes up from his coma without a face, he forces the doctor to put Archer’s face on him. He assumes Archer’s identity, leaving the real Archer to rot in prison.
The film is more than two hours long, and despite many fun set pieces, snappy dialogue, and gun-waving, it could’ve easily been slimmed down to an hour and 45 minutes. There are many unnecessary slow-motion shots that, while looking cool, wind up harshly dragging the urgency. But I get that stylized action movies need to stick to their style. John Woo walked so Zack Snyder could run.
The supporting cast, a veritable who’s who of ’90s character actors, populates the background, lending the two leads to dancing center stage, which is the highlight of Face/Off. Travolta plays Cage, acting as Travolta, and vice-versa. The pair spent weeks in pre-production following each other, picking up mannerisms, behaviors, and quirks. They chew the scenery with vivacity, leaning in heavy into their new faces – no pun intended – as they shoot guns through the air, drive boats into other boats, and on and on.
Despite its absurdities, Face/Off landed well with critics and audiences alike. Against an $80 million budget, it made nearly $246 million worldwide.
Face/Off still lands nicely; it still holds a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% audience rating. If there were a template for every action movie cliché in the 1990s era, Face/Off would complete the scorecard.