Face/Off

Friday, March 1 - Saturday, March 2, 2019

35mm print!

The third of John Woo’s American-made feature films, FACE/OFF stars John Travolta as Sean Archer, an FBI agent obsessed with capturing Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), a criminal genius who years before killed Archer’s son while trying to assassinate the agent.

Archer’s single-minded pursuit of Troy has caused serious harm to his marriage, but Archer thinks the light may have appeared at the end of the tunnel when a seriously wounded Troy is captured in a bloody shootout. However, it turns out that Troy has planted a time bomb, with a biological payload that could destroy the entire city of Los Angeles — and Troy isn’t about to say where it is. The only other person who knows the bomb’s location is Troy’s brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola), who is no more helpful than Castor.

 

FBI scientists hatch a plan: they have developed an experimental surgery which would allow them to graft Troy’s face temporarily on Archer’s head and allow him to question Pollux as if he were his brother. But after Archer has taken Troy’s face, Troy regains consciousness and forces the doctors to give him Archer’s face. Now the criminal mastermind has the FBI at his disposal, and the lawman is underground with few places to turn.

 

Along with Woo’s usual elaborately choreographed action scenes, FACE/OFF features a number of notable supporting performances, including Joan Allen as Archer’s wife, Colm Feore and C.C.H. Pounder as FBI scientists, and Gina Gershon as Troy’s loyal but long-suffering girlfriend. – Paramount

 

Part of our Winter 2019 season of Waverly Midnights: The Feds.

 

 

 

  • Country USA
  • Year 1997
  • Running Time 140 minutes
  • Distributor Paramount Pictures
  • Director John Woo
  • Writer Mike Werb, Michael Colleary
  • Editor Steven Kemper, Christian Wagner
  • Cinematographer Oliver Wood
  • Cast John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon, Dominique Swain, Nick Cassavetes, Harve Presnell

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.