In the 1997 movie "Face/Off," John Travolta swaps faces with criminal Castor Troy, played by Nicolas Cage. Travolta plays FBI Special Agent Sean Archer, whose pursuit of Troy drives the story.
Castor Troy is a terrorist-for-hire who shoots Archer during an assassination attempt, accidentally killing Archer’s young son. Six years later, Archer captures Troy after a prolonged vendetta, but Troy falls into a coma before revealing the location of a bomb planted in Los Angeles.
To learn the bomb’s location, Archer undergoes an experimental face-transplant procedure that gives him Troy’s face, voice, and appearance. He enters prison under Troy’s identity to question Troy’s brother, Pollux. The plan collapses when Troy awakens, takes Archer’s face, and assumes Archer’s life.
The film is known for the unusual challenge it gave both leads: Cage performs scenes as Archer pretending to be Troy, while Travolta performs Troy pretending to be Archer. The title refers to the literal exchange of faces as well as the characters’ stolen identities.