Deja Vu is a entertaining light scifi film about having the chance to go back and change the past.
The film opens with the explosion of a ferry which has just left the Canal Street Pier in New Orleans. Doug Carlin (Denzyl Washington) is the ATF-New Orleans and is called in to investigate this accident when his partner Larry, who should be covering the investigation goes missing.
Doug's job is to confirm whether or not this is just a normal accident. He does a bit of searching around and locates evidence to prove that a device was used to cause the explosion.
Doug prove's himself to be a very skilled investigator finding clues that even the FBI haven't detected yet, which brings him to the notice of Jack McCreadie (Val Kilmer) who is the special FBI agent placed in charge of the investigation.
Also during this time a woman's body is found floating in the water. Although her death has been made to appear that she was one of the victim's of the explosion, Doug finds evidence that she was probably killed before the explosion, adding to the mystery.
McCreadie invites Doug to get involved in a special project that his team have been working on which is when the scifi part of the movie begins to kick in.
McCreadie and his team have been working on a satellite radar that captures the past and can replay it in real time. In the words of McCreadie, they basically 'warp the fabric of space' to 'fold space back on itself' and can therefore change history.
They test this out by tracking down the murderer played by Jim Cavaziel to his hide out. Doug sends a note back to himself with a warning, but unfortunately his partner Larry, see's the note and decides to follow it up with tragic consequences. McCreadie's team are also able to see the last days of the female victim called Clare, whose body was found in the water, and how her path crosses with that of the killer.
Doug, who starts to develop an emotional attachment to Clare as he watches what are her last few hours alive in the past, determines to save her this time around and stop the killer, which eventually leads him into transporting himself back into the past through McCreadie's device. The rest of the movie is then basically a mad race with Doug trying to save Clare's life and trying to stop the killer from carrying out his plans.
There are some good twists in the film such as the car chase in the present and the past which we see through Doug's eye's as it happen's simultaneously. There is a light romance between Doug and Clare and a twist at the end of the movie that is quite good.
The acting in the film was fair for the most part but usual for this kind of film. Denzyl did a good job as usual and Val Kilmer's role was pretty much in the background so you don't really see that much of him once Doug has travelled to the past, and the romance between Doug and Clare is predictable.
Jim Cavaziel's role as the murderer was fine but nothing special and didn't really tap into the great acting talent that he has.
The theory in the movie that you could communicate with someone in the past whilst you are still in the future and the idea that actions you haven't taken yet have already had consequences in your future, I found a bit of a mind warp but still found it all entertaining nevertheless.
This is a good movie to watch and entertaining, but I found that it would be a movie I would rent rather than buy.
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In his most effective thriller sinceEnemy of the State, Tony Scott makes time travel seem ... more
plausible. It helps that his New Orleans hero, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington in his third go-round with the director), spends more time in the present ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In his most effective thriller sinceEnemy of the State, Tony Scott makes time travel seem ... more
plausible. It helps that his New Orleans hero, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington in his third go-round with the director), spends more time in the present ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: A good film, amazing cast, and some very strong preformances Disadvantages: Not as good as it should have been. Poor direction in my opinion
Advantages: Cage & Moores performances, some fairly good CGI/effects & scenery in parts Disadvantages: The ending, tries to be a bit too clever, somewhat cheesy & formulaic
IzzyS 13.01.2008 (13.01.2008)
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