Near brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2008)

Wow! This could have been such a bad movie! The story is ridiculous, and in the hands of someone less talented than John Woo, it could make no sense. More importantly, had the two leads been less talented, the premise would have been impossible to buy. Yet "Face/Off" is done so well that it is a near masterpiece.
Sean Archer (John Travolta) is an FBI agent who has spent his career tracking the terrorist Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage). When Archer finally catches Troy, he discovers that the terrorist has planted a bomb somewhere, and in order to find it, Archer has to (quite literally) switch faces with Troy to interrogate his paranoid-schizophrenic brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola). Of course, complications arise when Troy wakes up from his coma and takes Archer's face for himself. So now Archer is Troy and Troy is Archer! Like I said, the story is beyond ridiculous. But the script is written intelligently enough that the characters act realistically. But that is beside the point. There are two things that make this film great: an outstanding cast, and John Woo.
There was a time when movie stars were stars because of their acting ability, not because of how well they sold themselves to the tabloids and the celebrity gossip magazines. It shows here. John Travolta and Nicholas Cage have fun with their roles. They clearly studied each other's mannerisms and mimic them, so it's always clear that they are ACTING like their counterpart, not because the story says so.
But Cage and Travolta are not the only ones with memorable performances. The supporting actors are played by skilled thespians as well, all of whom care about the film enough to flesh out their parts. The villains are fleshed out enough that they cease to become really villains. We gain sympathy for them because they act like real people. Nick Cassavetes and especially the always wonderful Gina Gershon are prime examples. And it's also great to see Colm Feore and the always terrific CCH Pounder.
Then there is John Woo. Instead of taking the easy, safe way out and making it dumb, campy fun, he's got the guts and the skill to make it an full-out action movie. And it works. Of course, there are times when his little flourishes are too much, but that's just nit-picking.
"Face/Off" comes so close to being a ten, SO CLOSE! It comes so close that I nearly gave it that rating, but after thinking it over I can't in good conscience do so. The reason? The ending. The main problem is Travolta. For 90% of the movie, he holds his own and does brilliant work. But in the film's last scenes he goes over the top and goes into "Broken Arrow" mode (ironically also a John Woo film), and it casts a pall over the last action sequence. So close, but no cigar.
Still, this is a great film, and a wild ride.