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Face/Off Starring John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gerschon, Dominique Swain, Colm Feore. Directed by John Woo. Castor Troy (Cage) is an Irish Terrorist for hire who begins the film by attempting to assassinate special agent Sean Archer (Travolta) while Archer is riding a merry-go-round with his young son Michael. Troy wounds Archer, but accidently kills young Michael. Archer does not forgive him. Flash-forward 6 years, and Troy is giddily planting a huge bomb in a L.A. skyscraper, set to go off in 26 days. Archer has a consuming obsession to get Troy. And he almost gets his wish, in an exciting jeep-and-helicopter-chasing-an-airplane sequence, where Troy eventually crashes the plane, and is virtually dead (in a coma) after an ensuing gun fight and fall. Troy's nutcase brother is captured, and is the only one who knows where the bomb is located, so Archer is convinced to exchange faces with the veggie Troy and assume his position in jail to attempt to get the brother to let something slip. But of course Troy comes out of the coma and has Archer's face put on him, and the rest of the movie is spent with each living the other's life. This film is miles ahead of Woo's last film . The acting is sensational. Woo has Cage and Travolta clearly show their character's style and motivations early in the film, and when they switch characters, Travolta becomes passionate, erratic and ruthless, and Cage becomes calm and thoughtful. They are both totally believable as the other -- Travolta is especially fun to watch. If they gave academy award nominations for these type of films, he could get one (well actually they did once - Sigourney Weaver in Aliens). The camera direction is stylish and colourful - light fragments during gun play, close-ups of bullets spinning and one gun fight with Somewhere Over the Rainbow playing in the background to great effect. And the characters are fleshed out as real people -- one feels sympathy for Archer and his family, but gains understanding for Troy and his family and friends. A particularly moving scene is when Travolta as Troy morns the death of his brother during a gun battle -- terrorists have feelings too. Joan Allen is especially good as Archer's wife who's had to put up with his obsession with getting revenge on Troy, and eventually discovers the main she's sleeping with is not really her husband. The script is strong, with lots of ironic and witty dialogue. But, as with many action films, the director doesn't know when to start. At least twice, the film should have concluded with the expiry of Troy, but circumstances are contrived for him to escape and enjoy one more thriling action sequence. Less is more applies to the end of this film. But overall, this is an outstanding action film, which is the best in its field so far this summer. If you would like to respond to the above, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go Back To The Main Page Press Here To Go Back To The Review List Page