Summer 1997

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Face/Off, directed by John Woo (Paramount, 1997), 138 mins.

This summer, where every major movie studio promises to have its biggest gross ever, has become, well, somewhat disappointing. After all, once you've seen the major special effects, stuntwork, and action sequences of this year's biggest, loudest, dumbest blow 'em-up films, the mass response becomes a little jaded. Been there. Done that. Let's rent Emma again.

But there is one exception. When Face/Off opened, it had received the most uncanny praise that a summer action film has any right to deserve. It wasn't just that the action sequences were inventive and thrilling and cool, that it had big, loud explosions and a large body count. The near-majority of critics said that the film was also touching, poignant, oddly moving.

Excuse me?

Yet when the ending credits rolled, I was a little glassy-eyed and wore a goofy grin. This was a shared experience, evidenced by the same looks on those around me.

This is not normal.

The question kept circulating through my veins. What was it? How is it that a crazy concept of good guy/bad guy switching identities works more powerfully and persuasively than dinosaurs, aliens, and crazed terrorists hijacking yet another mode of transportation? I believe the answer lies in Hollywood's boilerplate of switching-identity movies.

You know the recipe. Take one pair of vastly different individuals (prince/pauper, parent/adolescent, suburbanite housewife/Madonna), throw in a catalyst (identical twins, amnesia, a magical New Ageish bric-a-brac), and the two's traits shall be traded. Each sees life from the other's eyes. The comedy's in the complications. The drama's in the return to normalcy. The heart's in the growth process. With Face/Off, the switching ...

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