The startling twist to Face/off, as the title suggests, and the six-month long advertising campaign has already told us, is that these two men will actually trade faces. Its a most bizarre twist. Some wacky doctor has supposedly developed a method to slice a face off one skull and attach it to another. PLUS, the same doctor is also able to reconstruct the body so that pudgy Travolta can become svelte Cage in a matter of days, and without scars. Wow!
Mind you the b rain revolts against this essential plot ingredient on all kinds of levels, but I guess logic has never really been a strong selling point in Hollywood, and after Tom Cruise's rubber faces in Mission Impossible last year, Face/Off had to be really creative in its oneupmanship.
The real surprise of the movie, however, is just how effective this face and body swapping is. By the end, in all the hustle and bustle I had to keep reminding myself okay, okay, Cage is Travolta and therefore the good guy. But my confusion is to be expected, because by the time the final credits roll around, it feels like the last third of the film has been an interminable sequence of chases and fights. Indeed, Cage and Travolta chasing each other on land and sea and punching and kicking and shooting and stabbing each other could easily have been omitted to make this film much stronger, but it is summer, and it is to be expected.
Weak ending aside, Face/Off is good entertainment. The strongest part of the film is the dynamic and fun performance of the two stars. Travolta and Cage are given the delightful opportunity to flex their acting muscles here, albeit in a slapstick manner. Both actors play themselves and each other. It must have been a hoot for these two guys to make fun of each other--its certainly most enjoyable for the audience.
My favorite moments are when Nicholas Cage first goes to prison. He's now supposedly his archrival the FBI agent acting as the bad guy. The inmates reflect the audiences interest in Cage. What will he do? To convince his dual audience that he really is the demonic criminal, Cage shamefully overacts his own mannerisms, his eyes bursting open like light bulbs and his lips spreading into a maniacal smile. Its great. Travolta has similarly great moments as he struggles with the supposed duality of his new self.
In balance, Face/Off is most entertaining. In spit of the monotony of the action scenes, Cage and Travolta pull out all the stops to make this summer flick an engaging and worthwhile way to spend an evening.