Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Face/Off
1997
****
Director: John Woo
Cast: Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon, Dominique Swain, Nick Cassavetes

To discover the location of a bomb, FBI agent Sean Archer undergoes experimental face transplant surgery to play his arch nemesis Castor Troy. While Archer is undercover, Troy wakes up from his coma and takes the agent's face. This ridiculously far-fetched premise results in an irresistibly entertaining action movie, which takes the fake identity scenario to places most movies wouldn't dare to go. John Travolta and Nicolas Cage both get to give hilariously schizophrenic performances. The movie could easily be shorter and tighter by taking out one of the many shootouts with explosions and smashed glass.