"Face/Off" is a 1997 science-fiction action film directed by John Woo starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Despite my concerns that the film could be terrible because of its director, I was positively surprised by the outcome. John Woo might have done some decent films in the past, but so far, I haven't seen many of them and until now, they have always been mediocre to terrible. When he directed the snake striking Jean-Claude Van Damme in the enjoyable yet irrefutable mediocre "Hard Target" it was still acceptable, but whatever he tried while making the second outing of "Mission Impossible" will forever be the proof of his inadequacy. I have never been a huge fan of his directing style that mostly consist of quick editing, slow motion shots and the neurotic inclusion of white doves. His methods are self-evidently influenced by and most effective for Chinese cinema, and don't really react well to Hollywood. Fortunately, I finally witnessed a film in which this unusual formula works out (at least, to a certain degree). In its leading roles this movie has two superstars that are in fact capable of more than people in general give them credit for. Of course, both had massive flops in their past and are nowadays pushed in the background in direct comparison to the superstars of our time, but there have been enough films that justify to call them legends - and I think what they have achieved here is totally underrated acting. Travolta mimes the troubled secret agent who devoted his whole life to tracking down the murderer of his son and terrorist Castor Troy, infamously portrayed by Cage. Their roles and relationship are the classic, stereotypical image of good vs evil and everything is so extremely overstated that it almost appears like a caricature. In the case of Archer, it is still tolerable and not that exaggerated, but Nic Cage is literally uncaged in this film and delivering probably one of his most eccentric performances of his entire career. From the scene when he, dressed up as a vicar, by the way, headbangs his head to the lovely melody of a Christian choir over the sequence his coat epically waves in the wind when he gets out of the car and meets his brother to several occasions he smiles like he is insane, we get the concentrated charge of Cageian madness. This isn't even all about the ingenious acting job that deserves way more recognition, because, as the title suggests, the two protagonists switch their roles in the process. The amazing thing is that they don't simply play the roles of each other but portray their co-stars playing their respective role. After they swapped their visages, you can literally feel how they still were their original character within, only that their outer appearances were different. Travolta superbly adopted the sheer lunacy and coolness of Troy, while Cage splendidly manages to convey the melancholy and vulnerability that defines the traumatised personality of his opponent. It might not appear to be much but considering that it is a crucial factor of the whole story, it was absolutely necessary that this works out well, and the film indeed guarantees this. The surgery itself brings in the science-fiction aspect into the play, and even if it is of course not possible to do such things in such a fashion, it was astonishing to see how the film explains all its fictional processes on a surprisingly smart level. Also, even if most shots only showed the results or implicit images, the effects were outright gross, realistic and reminiscent of something the Joker did in one infamous story. Speaking of smart, the overall story was more clever than the usual action flick and even if it was not the "Citizen Kane" of action films, combined some ingredients that made it set apart from the common film of the genre. Unlike most of those films, it isn't just one montage of one scene of mindless shootouts and explosions after another, but a crime thriller that bases its existence on the unprecedented enmity of its two leads. At the same time, it even has some dramatic elements, such as the familial tragedy of Archer, the problematic situations of the ones that are the closest to Troy or even the most prominent aspect of the existential crisis that both gradually suffer from while spending more time in the body of their nemesis. All those mostly implied yet relevant aspects are a welcomed counterweight to the hard-boiled action sequences that are rhythmically spread across the whole film. While they don't have such innovative choreographies and mostly balance on the edge of becoming repetitive, they still do serve their purpose. The only aspect to fault about those sequences is how in several occasions one could see the safety leashes of the stunt crew and how the stunt men of Cage and Travolta obviously looked nothing like their respective counterpart. It might be a minor issue and nothing of relevance, but when this happens more than once it unintentionally makes it appear cheap and, most importantly, utterly ridiculous. The only serious problem I have with this film is the length and the pacing. With an enormous runtime of almost two and a half hours, it was extremely lengthy at times and unbalanced in term of its narration. For example, in one sequence that appeared to be the final shootout I had the feeling that it was going to be the climatic altercation, only to find out that the film would run for another three-quarters of an hour. In the end, it has already thrashed out everything what its interesting premise has had to offer and still went on. It definitely would have profited from a more tightened and shorter narration. Furthermore, the ending was also another aspect that I met with dissatisfaction. Aside from the unintentionally ridiculous speedboat chase sequence, I was justifiably confused by one essential aspect: How did the cops and colleagues of Archer all suddenly know of the secret operation and that he is in the body of his enemy, considering that everyone who knew about the undertaking was allegedly dead (as Troy said it multiple times)? Just because he told his wife about the incident, a civilian with no power or credibility? This plot convenience had a bitter aftertaste to it, but that wasn't the only thing about it. In the final scene, where Travolta finally has his face back, he comes home ... with the son of Troy he promised to take care of. Even if it was a sweet gesture and a heart-warming happy end, it was also mildly irritating, considering that he thus replaced his own deceased son in some way. I cannot deny that it indeed felt a little weird to me. All in all, this nineties classic faces an ambitious premise with easiness and delivers a decent experience that is defined by its heavily underrated, ingenious acting of its lead actors Travolta and Cage. Even if it has a few flaws in terms of narration and with the stunts, it manages to become an action flick that is smartly executed and superior to the average action film from that decade, and a rare occasion that Woo's experimental and dove induced directorial style might work out in Hollywood. Undoubtedly one of the better films of each involved and an iconic role of Nicolas Cage, the man with the unbearable weight of massive talent. Hopefully, he is still going to carry it in the future and that he will enrich the business with his existence. God bless Nicolas Cage.
