On this episode of CinAmerican Dream we will be looking at John Woo’s 1997 Sci Fi thriller Face/Off set in Las Angeles. The movie stars John Travolta and Nicholas Cage and explores what happens when an international terrorist and an FBI agent swap faces and places. In the process, each character lives the life of the other with the FBI agent being stuck in prison while the international terrorist works in the police department, while wearing the other character’s face of course. This allows the two actors, Cage and Travolta, to play not only each other’s characters in the film, but also each other as actors. This, combined with crazy action scenes including prison breaks and boat chases, makes this film wildly entertaining. The film, outside of its far fetched concept and use of explosives, explores many concepts about America that we will dissect further during the episode. We will touch on Face/Off’s representation of the american dream, justice system, glorification of violence, familial values, identity and masculinity while also talking about some of our favorite characters and scenes.
Director John Woo is from Hong Kong and has had a great impact on the action film genre both abroad and in the United States. Face/Off is Woo’s most recognized film and served as an influence for Martin Scorsese’s Oscar Winning film, The Departed.
We hope you enjoy the episode!
