Review: Déjà vu

*****SPOILER WARNING***** Whilst much of the information contained in this review is revealed fairly early in the film (and in every review of the film), you might wish to save this review for when you’ve finished watching it. In the meantime, if you’ve seen the trailer, just look at my score and then decide if you want to see it (I hope you do see it, by the way). Filmed in post-Katrina New Orleans (everyone else mentions it in their review, so who am I to buck the trend?) ATF agent Denzel Washington (who investigated the Oklahoma City bombing, another detail everyone else seems to mention- what can I say, I’m a sheep!) looks into the explosion of a ferry that has killed several hundred people. He is particularly fascinated in a deceased young woman (charismatic then-newcomer Paula Patton) who was seemingly in the area at the time, and is somehow connected to the bombing. Val Kilmer (who used to be the skinny Batman, right?) is an FBI man so impressed with Washington that when he takes over the investigation, he sees an opportunity to use Washington’s experience and intuition. And here’s where it all gets a little nutty. You see, Kilmer and his crew of brainiacs have acquired new surveillance technology that Kilmer initially explains as a digital composite of satellite images from four days previously (you have to wait four days before you get today’s images, in other words. Or so I gather. Brain hurts, me so sleepy!), and from any angle necessary (but never rewinding to watch something again). The truth is, however, even more fantastical, though at times Denzel seems more fascinated by this dead woman, becoming obsessed with her, despite knowing that she will die (Or already has. Whatever. Head Hurts). Jim Caviezel plays the domestic wacko (Jesus as a terrorist? Um, OK then...), Bruce Greenwood an FBI bigwig, and Matt Craven is Washington’s ill-fated partner (What is it with Craven getting bumped off early in a film, it happens a LOT!).

 

Surprisingly fascinating, even more surprisingly intelligent 2006 re-teaming of director Tony Scott (the enjoyable “Enemy of the State”, the shamefully dishonest exploitation flick “Man on Fire” with Denzel) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, exceeded my expectations by creating an interesting and plausible (within the realms of a futuristic thriller, that is. The technology may not yet be available, but it’s not too far removed from the widely-used Google Earth actually, a quality the film shares with “Minority Report”, among other ideas) time travel story, perhaps the best of its kind since 1985’s “Back to the Future”. It may not have flawless logic but time and care has been taken to make things work as well as possible. Look at the footage of Patton, and then watch Scott account for Denzel somehow being there too. It’s smart. I’m not entirely certain that the ending holds up, but I do understand why the filmmakers think it does.

 

It starts off a little shaky (despite the always sturdy Washington), but once Kilmer (looking a little chubby, actually and presumably only on hand to be able to say he’s worked with Denzel) and his techie crew (including a well-cast and really quite funny Adam Goldberg) show up to point the film in another direction, it’s compelling stuff. Intelligent screenplay by Bill Marsilili and Terry Rossio (the latter being one of the scribes of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films), it should be noted, however, that diehard Bruckheimer fans need not be worried. There’s a helluva action sequence that puts a new spin on the old freeway chase scene. It’s truly the most inventive chase scene I have ever seen, though there’s not too many other action moments in the film. It’s thankfully not as shaky or masturbatory as other Scott films, this one’s got some nifty camerawork and is a helluva crisp-looking film.

 

Absolutely not for people who hate sci-fi, even though this isn’t exactly in that genre, which is what separates it from “Minority Report”. Both films are excellent and well worth seeing, despite sharing thematic and story elements. This film is definitely more of an investigation/mystery flick with elements of sci-fi. The crime and main characters are interesting enough (Patton does so much with so little, a masterstroke in casting), but the technological twists and turns come to take what is an enjoyable terrorist thriller and turn it into something really unique and fascinating.

 

I think this is one of the more underrated films of the mid-00s, and just a fun, fascinating ride with a human element more successfully done than in many other time-travel films (I didn’t buy “The Time Traveller’s Wife” in the slightest).

 

Rating: B