Face/Off (1997)

“If you dress like Halloween, ghouls will try to get in your pants. ” – Castor Troy

Number of Times Seen – 2 (Theater in 1997 and 2 Dec 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A federal agent changes faces with a terrorist mastermind in order to stop a bomb from exploding in a public place.

My Take on it – I have to give a huge shout-out to my friend Emma for convincing me to rewatch this movie.

I actually hadn’t seen in since it came out in the theater 17 years ago and didn’t recall it being very memorable.

Yep, my memory was once again playing tricks on me.

I had a blast rewatching this because Director John Woo was able to create a story that moved along solely by the action scenes involved instead of by a real and convincing plot.

The science here definitely makes one wonder why the characters don’t notice any real changes.  Even a person’s scent is unique, so that a spouse or a lover should be able to tell the difference (especially if you go to bed, I mean c’mon Joan Allen, you didn’t notice anything different in bed with your husband? They changed his face and did some surgery on his hips, but ahhemmm, not everything was changed.  Good thing she’s a doctor) 🙂 even with cologne or deodorant.

It seems as if both John Travolta and Nicholas Cage had a fun time making this since they each get to poke fun at the other’s mannerisms and well as laughing at their own.  Both actors are talented enough to play BOTH the hero and the villain, so they both got to do both roles here.

The action here is non-stop and this is further proof that John Woo knows how to make a good action pic.

The original plan was to have either Harrison Ford + Michael Douglas or Sylvester Stallone + Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I think it was a great idea to use Cage/Travolta instead of the other choices, none of them would have worked as well.

If you let your mind forget about the silly scientific plot holes, it really is a fun movie to watch.

Thanks again to Emma for reminding me that this is a fun ride.

Bottom Line – Very fun action movie that works if you forget all of the science aspect plot holes.  Both Travolta and Cage are great as “each other”. Basically a non-stop action movie that is perfect when that’s all you want. Recommended!

Rating – Globe Worthy

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