Face/Off

Face/Off is an R-rated movie that earned its rating because the plot premise -- involving faces that are reversed -- is depicted in graphic detail, and its violence, in keeping with director John Woo's style, is excessive, at least as measured by the extent of the shootings, crashes, explosions and wild brawls. These are the fluff items that will attract viewers interested in fast-paced violent action films, but Face/Off, which stars John Travolta and Nicholas Cage in the face-reversal roles, has substance in its plot, dialogue and performances.

The plot is innovative, with Travolta as a revenge-driven lawman and Cage as a psychotic killer thrown into a situation in which (science-fiction style) their faces are reversed so that Travolta, looking and sounding like Cage's killer character, can infiltrate the criminal gang and locate a fearsome explosive device.

There is substance in a film in which two experienced actors successfully adopt the mannerisms of the other in a story that veers off into unexpected paths (the explosion is not the climax; it doesn't even happen) and includes choice roles for women in romantic leads with men who are not the men they think they are. Joan Allen, as Travolta's medical doctor wife, is especially effective (as she was as Pat Nixon in Nixon). She refuses to believe her husband, who looks and sounds like an assassin, until it is almost too late. But believe him she finally does, which leads to a violent confrontation in a church -- and a touching resolution of Travolta's search for revenge.

COPYRIGHT 1997 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning