Deja Vu’s title says it all: you’ve seen this before. Sadly, you have also seen better from director Tony Scott, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and actor Denzel Washington. With that said, the film does have all the elements that have made Scott’s films worth watching, Bruckheimer’s continued tradition of giving the audience popcorn excitement, and Washington’s charm and intensity. If you turn the brain off so that the science of the film doesn’t make your head want to explode, it is entertaining, but don’t expect much depth or plausibility.
Along with Washington, the film stars Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Bruce Greenwood, Adam Goldberg, and Jim Caviezel (who is simply wasted in the film).
The film (which is probably one of Scott’s strongest in a while after duds like Domino) follows the aftermath of a terrorist bombing in a post-Katrina New Orleans. ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) and FBI Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) are teamed together to solve the crime. To do this, Pryzwarra has to let Carlin in on some new technology that the government has developed that actually allows a person to look into the past like a satellite beaming down images from orbit. Carlin is good at looking at a crime scene and answering the questions, and the hope is that he will be able to look at the past to figure out what happened and who did it.
As Washington and company begin their investigation, they focus in on Claire Kuchever (Patton) – whose body was discovered before the bomb detonated. Slowly Carlin begins to unravel the pieces of the mystery by watching Claire’s life. He also starts to fall in love with her. As this is happening, we learn the truth about how they are watching Claire, and what the limits of the new technology are – you can see four days into the past for a limited window of range, and you can only send things to the past like paper. Goldberg’s Denny character provides the “geek speak” science elements to the film, but most of his rules are broken by the time the film reaches its ending. As the plot quickens, Washington is sent back in time to help save Claire and to stop the bomber (Caviezel) before it is too late.
Deja Vu is another team up for Scott and Washington (they also worked together on Crimson Tide and Man on Fire), and it has the same energy that comes along with the pairing. Although Man on Fire was killed by many of the critics, I enjoyed the film’s look and the way Scott/Washington handled the character. Crimson Tide was an excellent film and is probably one of Scott’s best movies to date.
This film falls somewhere in between the pair’s previous work. The film is much more in tune with what Scott did on Enemy of the State with Will Smith. The director has scrapped all the jerky camera movements and “Oliver Stone-like” cuts that made Man on Fire and Domino so hard to follow at times. He has replaced them with straightforward storytelling. While this helped the film achieve more commercial success (it made about $175 million worldwide) than Domino (which made about $22 million), it also robbed the movie of having any kind of look or feel to separate from all the other thrillers out there today.
As always, Washington is good in the film, but at times it seems the actor is on autopilot. He knows this kind of role and you can see his other film characters in his performance – including Crimson Tide’s Lt. Commander Ron Hunter, Inside Man's Detective Keith Frazier, and The Siege's Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard. He has the same intensity and believability that he brings to every film, and once again proves that he can make any plot entertaining. Washington delivers in the film, and helps you forgive some of its shaky science on the whole time travel thing.
Sadly, the rest of the cast is wasted in the movie. Kilmer pretty much plays second fiddle to Washington and is there to help move the story along. There is nothing that really stands out in his character or his performance. Goldberg does his best Jeff Goldblum impersonation and tries to sell the audience on the fact the government can now time travel. Patton is excellent as the damsel in distress and potential love interest. She never really has a chance to shine in the film, but it is clear she is a talented actress. Caviezel is completely wasted in the movie. He has a good scene with Washington that shows promise, but after that he is as forgettable as the rest of the side characters.
The DVD’s special features take you behind the camera for how most of the`movie’s big scenes were filmed. There are also some deleted and extended scenes. The scenes were mostly deleted for pacing and time issues. It is a shame because the scenes do help add a bit more to the characters. The behind the scenes look is interesting, but may be a bit much to the average film fan.
Deja Vu is going to be one of those hit or miss films. I didn’t like it as much as past Washington/Scott collaborations, but I didn’t hate it. The film is entertaining, and manages a degree of excitement as it reaches its conclusion. It also requires to you to shut your brain off and not worry about the whole “time travel” aspects of the plot. This might be why I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Washington is one of my favorite actors, but I thought he was just coasting for the most part in this film. Still, I would recommend the movie to anyone wanting something that is fun and entertaining from start to finish.
Déjà Vu is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a May 14th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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