Face/Off Movie Review 1997

Woo returns to his blood-soaked, violence-as-poetry-in-motion roots with the story of a fed who assumes the identity of the presumed-dead terrorist who killed his son. When the master criminal wakes up, he "steals" the cop's identity. Travolta's back for another wild ride, eating up the scenery when he takes on the bad-guy role. Cage, fresh from action hits in "The Rock" and "Con Air" gets to study the nature of good and evil (another Woo specialty) while he learns the nuances of the "leap across the room with two pistols blazing" move. Woo's Hong Kong efforts have always explored the blurry line between the good guys and the bad guys, and with Cage and Travolta, he has the perfect actors to display his findings. Woo cultists will welcome the return to the old style, while those only familiar with his stateside work will understand what all the fuss was about.

Distribution

Paramount Home Video, 5555 Melrose Ave., 5555 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038, Phone: (323)956-5000, URL: http://www.paramount.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 140 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

FBI, Terrorism, Plastic Surgery, Not-So-True Identity, Men in Prison, L.A., Revenge, Boom!, Great Escapes, Great Death Scenes, Escaped Cons, Top Grossing Films of 1997, Brothers & Sisters, Coma

Screenplay

Mike Werb, Michael Colleary

Cast

John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon, Nick Cassavetes, Dominique Swain, Harve Presnell, Margaret Cho, CCH Pounder, Colm Feore, John Carroll Lynch, Matt Ross

Cinematography

Oliver Wood

Director

John Woo

Music

John Powell

Producer

Christopher Godsick, Barrie M. Osborne, Jonathan D. Krane, Michael Douglas, Steven Reuther, WCG Entertainment, Paramount Pictures

Awards

MTV Movie Awards 1998: On-Screen Duo (John Travolta/Nicolas Cage), Action Seq.