Face/Off Face/Off Face/Off is a 1997 American science fiction action film directed by John Woo, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Travolta plays an FBI agent and Cage plays a terrorist, sworn enemies who assume each other's physical appearance. The first Hollywood film in which Woo was given major creative control, "Face/Off" earned critical acclaim for its acting performances (especially Cage and Travolta), stylized action sequences, John Powell's musical score, emotional depth, originality, humor, direction and stunts. It is often cited to be Woo's best Hollywood film. A commercial success, the film grossed
Face/Off critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. The role reversal between Travolta and Cage was a subject of praise, as were the stylized, violent action sequences. Critic Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three out of four and remarked that, "Here, using big movie stars and asking them to play each other, Woo and his writers find a terrific counterpoint to the action scenes: All through the movie, you find yourself reinterpreting every scene as you realize the "other" character is "really"