Face/Off

4/4

Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon, Alessandro Nivola

Rated R for Intense Sequences of Strong Violence, and Strong Language

This movie could have gone wrong in so many ways, yet it doesn’t.  In fact, this is an example of the perfect action movie.  The plot is intriguing and it never takes the easy way out, the action scenes are exciting, and the performances are first rate.  What more can an action movie lover ask for?

Sean Archer (Travolta) is a government agent obsessed with capturing the international criminal named Castor Troy (Cage).  In addition to being behind numerous bombings, murders and other kinds of assorted mayhem, Troy killed Archer’s son five years ago.  At long last, Archer has apprehended Troy, but there’s a problem.  Troy has placed a bomb somewhere in downtown Los Angeles, and he’s now a vegetable.  Archer has no choice but to undergo a top-secret procedure where he will literally change faces with Troy in order to interrogate Troy’s paranoid brother, Pollox (Nivola), who is in prison.  The tables turn when Troy wakes up and puts on Archer’s face.

It helps immeasurably that the two leads are accomplished actors.  Travolta and Cage are clearly enjoying themselves (Travolta especially) mimicking each others’ mannerisms.  Travolta is especially good; no one plays a gleefully wicked villain like him.  Cage is also good as the man trapped in his mortal enemy’s body, bringing a sense of desperation and poignancy to the role.

You know you’re in for a treat when an Oscar nominee and noted character actors play second fiddle in an action movie.  Joan Allen is good as Archer’s loving wife whose suspicions arise fairly early (though she never suspects the truth…how could she, really?).  Alessandro Nivola is very good as Pollux, creating a unique voice and mannerisms as the shuffling kid brother of Troy.  Gina Gershon and Nick Cassevetes are terrific as members of Troy’s old crew.  Also making brief appearances are Colm Feore and CCH Pounder (two of my favorite character actors).

John Woo is to action movies what Alfred Hitchcock was to suspense.  He is a master.  Woo directs action scenes with such tenderness and care that it is clear that they are a labor of love.  Not only are they terrifically exciting, they are far more aesthetically pleasing than those by any other director.  Woo is also a superb storyteller.  He makes the preposterous seem plausible, and keeps things from ever becoming confusing.  Not many directors can make that claim, especially with a script like this.

There’s no doubt that “Face/Off” is big, bold and dramatic (at times approaching operatic), but it’s also a lot of fun, and not to be missed by any action lover.

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