7. Face/Off
By far John Woo's greatest Hollywood movie, Face/Off is a surprisingly smart action flick that works to its strengths and doesn't slow down long enough to allow you to think about the plot's inherent absurdity. FBI Agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) agrees to undergo a risky medical procedure in order to infiltrate Castor Troy's (Nicolas Cage) gang and deduce the location of a bomb hidden somewhere in Los Angeles. With Troy in custody, his face is transplated onto Archer's, while Archer's face is stored in a water tank, at least until Troy unexpected wakes up on the operating table and orders a doctor to give him Archer's face. As a result, Troy, with Archer's face, now assumes Archer's life, moving into his home and essentially trying to box Archer, who is now walking around with the bad guy's face, into a corner that will get him killed. Though this movie could have coasted on its sublime action sequences alone, the performances from Cage and Travolta - easily two of the best of their respective careers - are surprisingly nuanced, nailing the various tics and vocal inflections that each actor possesses. Furthermore, Troy moving into Archer's life is simply one of the downright creepiest cases of mistaken identity you're ever likely to see on screen.