The duality of Archer and Troy

Rating: Null/10 (8 November 2002)

[Lots of spoilers]. Exchanged identities always make for an interesting story when done accurately (see Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Mark Twain's `Those Extraordinary Twins' or even Pudd'nhead Wilson), and this is one that's done right! The substitution of identities, guises, and faces is the thrust of esteemed cult/action director John (Hard-Bolied, The Killer) Woo's Face/Off, a really weird movie. Full of more riveting twists, layered plotlines, and nerve-racking action than just about anything since The Usual Suspects, I'm both surprised and refreshed that something this creatively twisted rolled off the Hollywood mass production line and was revered by popular culture. Better yet, I'm happy as hell that both Nicolas Cage and John Travolta had the balls to play such bizarre characters!
Travolta's character, adamant FBI agent Sean Archer, goes underground to investigate the location of a biological weapon planted by his arch rival, the sadistic terrorist-for-hire who killed his son, Castor Troy (Cage). In doing so, Archer undergoes a radical procedure in `advanced medical technology' that involves the surgical removal of Troy's face Â– it's actually transplanted onto his bare skull in order to enter prison disguised and obtain information from Castor's paranoid schizophrenic brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola). But things go haywire when Troy, emerging from a coma, transforms into Archer and wreaks some serious havoc upon his life, both at work and at home. `A game of cat-and-mouse' hardly describes the paradoxical contest that Archer and Troy, each trapped in the enemy's body, engage forces in. The evil Troy goes home to Archer's wife (Joan Allen) and teenage daughter (Dominique Swain), convincing them that he's the husband and father they know. Yes, for years, Archer has been no-nonsense and unromantic -- imagine the surprise of Archer's wife when the `new' Archer treats her like a new lover! Meanwhile, Archer is sent to a high-security prison where the inmates wear magnetized boots that allow security to keep track of every footstep. Woo gleefully harvests Machiavellian versions of the good and bad epitome of morality and depravity, constructing a flip-flop plot that involves the families of both characters and an awesome mirror stand-off scene where both characters, trapped in the other's body, gaze at their own reflection (which in reality is the other person behind the mirror). This is one movie you shouldn't miss!