Face/Off
Obsession makes people lose themselves in their work--but few go to the lengths that FBI Special Agent Sean Archer (John Travola) does to triumph over his criminal arch-nemesis, Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage). Face/Off is an action movie that depicts the complex game of cat-and-mouse between Sean and Castor. The former undergoes a radical surgical procedure to have his face replaced with the latter's so he can infiltrate Castor's criminal organization and uncover the whereabouts of a bomb planted by Castor before he fell into a coma. Sean discovers that Castor has appropriated his life after emerging from his coma, leaving the FBI agent stranded as the super criminal he has devoted his life to hating.
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Sean's obsession to apprehend Castor is explained through a flashback from six years earlier that opens Face/Off, when Castor accidentally killed Sean's son, Michael (Myles Jeffrey), while trying to assassinate Sean. Sean has let his hatred and grief consume him; he barks orders at his staff and takes suicidal risks to apprehend Castor. Castor is unhinged and perverse--a sociopath of the highest order whose only real affection for anyone other than himself is for his younger brother, Pollux Troy (Alessandro Nivola). Castor is the ringleader of a cadre of international terrorism-for-pay criminals and "Enemy Number One" of the U.S. government. Face/Off breaks with action movie protocol by appearing to have the hero take down the villain very early on in an action set piece that wouldn't be out of place as the climax of another blockbuster. As Pollux is disinclined to reveal the location of the bomb, Sean must prevent the gruesome fate waiting to befall Los Angeles, as well as ensure that his archenemy doesn't have the last laugh. Sean has let his personal life at home disintegrate around him; his relationships with his wife, Eve (Joan Allen), and his teenage daughter, Jamie (Dominique Swain) are strained. Even apprehending Castor offers him little satisfaction; he promises Eve that he will take a desk job now that Castor is "dead", but is quick to break that promise to ensure that Castor doesn't win. Sean (as Castor) is planted within a secret off-shore prison to glean the location of the bomb from Pollux, discovering that he will have to act like Castor--wild, violent, and unpredictable--to gain his trust. Castor awakens--understandably freaked out, since his face has been removed--and subsequently shows up to taunt Sean while wearing his face. Castor severs all ties Sean might have had with the outside world during his "black bag" operation, forcing the heroic law enforcement officer to trigger a jailbreak so he can get back to L.A. to protect his family and stop Sean from committing even more atrocities. The central dilemma for Sean is that he should know better than to take on such an insane assignment, but that no one else is better positioned to extract the location of the bomb from Pollux. Sean is as close of an expert on Castor as there is--except for Castor.
Released in 1997, Face/Off predicts some technological medical advancements, like 3-D printing replacement body parts; the rest of the "science" presented as a justification for swapping faces is mad science fare. (I'm no doctor, but the voice-modulating microchips and super-drugs that rapidly heal severe facial trauma notwithstanding, there's something wildly implausible about reattaching nerve endings and delicate facial organs with minimal effort, not to mention consolidating two different blood types.) Replacing faces as a metaphor for questioning or deconstructing identity has been popular in films, including horror classics like Eyes Without a Face. Directed by John Woo, Face/Off addresses its themes with broad strokes, including many of the director's motifs--swooping coats, lots of slow-motion, cool sunglasses, dual-wielding pistols, and especially a predominance of doves. The gunplay between Sean and Castor recalls the heightened action found in Hong Kong bullet operas, despite Face/Off being set in America. There are more than a few outrageous action moments, including a game of chicken with a jet plane and a speedboat chase where everything seems to be explosive. When there isn't a hundred rounds of ammunition being fired a second, Face/Off explores the tension in how Castor (as Sean) insinuates himself into the Archer household and his workplace, creeping everyone out with his newfound flippant attitude. Castor relishes unnerving everyone that he can, including making suggestive comments to Eve and--more disturbingly--Sean's daughter, Jamie. The fun in Face/Off comes from seeing both Nicolas Cage and John Travolta emulate one another's acting idiosyncrasies. Despite the superficially convincing surgery performed by Dr. Malcolm Walsh (Colm Feore), virtually everyone around Sean and Castor are incapable of identifying them as impostors--only Castor and Sean are aware of who they are and who they are not, giving their interactions a special irony. They find themselves alone during a shootout on opposite sides of a double-sided mirror. As they simultaneously turn about, they point their guns at one another, each seeing his nemesis in his own reflection. Their deep-seated acrimony for one another only grows as their egos clash, resembling Batman and the Joker from DC Comics, with Sean as the obsessively driven crimefighter and Castor as the amoral, smirking killer. They actually seem to enjoy sabotaging one another's lives; Castor grandstands and capitalizes on his newfound authority as Sean Archer, while Sean prefers showing mercy and sympathy when he can get away with it. Before Sean went under the deepest of covers as Castor, he detained one of Castor's girlfriends, Sasha (Gina Gershon), and threatened to separate her from her child if she didn't cooperate with him in helping him find the bomb. When Sean (as Castor) meets up with some of Castor's accomplices, he empathizes with Sasha. Even though he uses her in his plan to trap Castor, he ensures her that "Sean" won't be a problem for her any more, and that her son--who is also Castor's son--will be taken care of when all is said and done. This noble act is ultimately a restorative one for Sean, who begins to come to terms with Michael's death after the security of the rest of his family has been compromised--directly by Castor, and indirectly through his own hesitation to cope with his loss.
Recommended for: Fans of an explosive action film with lots of subterfuge and deception running through it via a ghoulish form of camouflage. Face/Off is best suited for audiences that enjoy Cage and Travolta larger-than-life brand of acting, and favors big and bombastic performances as opposed to something more subdued.
Released in 1997, Face/Off predicts some technological medical advancements, like 3-D printing replacement body parts; the rest of the "science" presented as a justification for swapping faces is mad science fare. (I'm no doctor, but the voice-modulating microchips and super-drugs that rapidly heal severe facial trauma notwithstanding, there's something wildly implausible about reattaching nerve endings and delicate facial organs with minimal effort, not to mention consolidating two different blood types.) Replacing faces as a metaphor for questioning or deconstructing identity has been popular in films, including horror classics like Eyes Without a Face. Directed by John Woo, Face/Off addresses its themes with broad strokes, including many of the director's motifs--swooping coats, lots of slow-motion, cool sunglasses, dual-wielding pistols, and especially a predominance of doves. The gunplay between Sean and Castor recalls the heightened action found in Hong Kong bullet operas, despite Face/Off being set in America. There are more than a few outrageous action moments, including a game of chicken with a jet plane and a speedboat chase where everything seems to be explosive. When there isn't a hundred rounds of ammunition being fired a second, Face/Off explores the tension in how Castor (as Sean) insinuates himself into the Archer household and his workplace, creeping everyone out with his newfound flippant attitude. Castor relishes unnerving everyone that he can, including making suggestive comments to Eve and--more disturbingly--Sean's daughter, Jamie. The fun in Face/Off comes from seeing both Nicolas Cage and John Travolta emulate one another's acting idiosyncrasies. Despite the superficially convincing surgery performed by Dr. Malcolm Walsh (Colm Feore), virtually everyone around Sean and Castor are incapable of identifying them as impostors--only Castor and Sean are aware of who they are and who they are not, giving their interactions a special irony. They find themselves alone during a shootout on opposite sides of a double-sided mirror. As they simultaneously turn about, they point their guns at one another, each seeing his nemesis in his own reflection. Their deep-seated acrimony for one another only grows as their egos clash, resembling Batman and the Joker from DC Comics, with Sean as the obsessively driven crimefighter and Castor as the amoral, smirking killer. They actually seem to enjoy sabotaging one another's lives; Castor grandstands and capitalizes on his newfound authority as Sean Archer, while Sean prefers showing mercy and sympathy when he can get away with it. Before Sean went under the deepest of covers as Castor, he detained one of Castor's girlfriends, Sasha (Gina Gershon), and threatened to separate her from her child if she didn't cooperate with him in helping him find the bomb. When Sean (as Castor) meets up with some of Castor's accomplices, he empathizes with Sasha. Even though he uses her in his plan to trap Castor, he ensures her that "Sean" won't be a problem for her any more, and that her son--who is also Castor's son--will be taken care of when all is said and done. This noble act is ultimately a restorative one for Sean, who begins to come to terms with Michael's death after the security of the rest of his family has been compromised--directly by Castor, and indirectly through his own hesitation to cope with his loss.
Recommended for: Fans of an explosive action film with lots of subterfuge and deception running through it via a ghoulish form of camouflage. Face/Off is best suited for audiences that enjoy Cage and Travolta larger-than-life brand of acting, and favors big and bombastic performances as opposed to something more subdued.