Face/Off

I spent a whole day making up my mind whether or not to go along with the guys to see John Woo's latest American epic. Fortunately I let myself be talked into it.

Face/Off is one of the most effective action films I have seen in ages. Sean Archer is an FBI agent with one goal in life: to put the psychopathic terrorist Castor Troy out of action, who years ago killed Sean's little son, while Sean, who was the target, escaped unharmed.

In a beautifully choreographed sequence at the start of the film, the FBI succeeds in catching Castor Troy and his brother Pollux. Castor falls into a coma after close contact with a huge ventilation system. Castor has an ace up his sleeve, however. At an unknown location in LA a gigantic bomb will explode in six days. The only one who knows where the bomb is located is Pollux, but he only talks to his brother. So Sean Archer has to become his brother.

In the deepest secrecy Archer has his own face swapped for Castor Troy's and is let in to see the younger brother in prison. As expected, Pollux lets slip the secret in passing, but only now do all Archer's problems begin. Castor, you see, has woken up from his coma, has had Archer's face transplanted onto his faceless head and has killed everyone who knew about the case.

Face/Off has managed to get the most out of its central idea; among other things, through that idea the film adds nuance to the sharp division between good and evil. The plot is surprisingly well thought out and complex. At the same time Woo refrains from too much sentimental drivel. We aren't spared it at the end, but the ending is easy enough to swallow.

Travolta and Cage act so convincingly that you are never in doubt as to which character they are playing – incidentally, Woo wrote the script with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in mind as the two duellists.