Deja Vu - 2006

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, James Caviezel, Adam Goldberg

Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, SciFi

Rating: *** = "Liked It"

Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors, he always seems to do a fine job and I can think of only a very few of his movies that I didn't like. Since his Oscar success with Training Day he has churned out a number of quality and enjoyable roles: Antwone Fisher, Inside Man, Man on Fire, and Out of Time (notice I didn't include Manchurian Candidate or John Q in there! - he still did a good job, but man, what awful movies.) So I was pretty excited to see Deja Vu, where Denzel and Tony Scott got to work together again (they previously worked together on Man on Fire, an excellent movie).

I must admit that I was a bit wary with Scott as director. After the shaky, stylized, hard to follow camera shots of Domino and Man on Fire, I was dreading another spectacle of trying to see what was actually happening in the movie through the frenetic, jerky camera movements of a style-obssessed Tony Scott. Someone must have had a strong sit-down with Scott and explained that his goofy style just made for annoyed movie-goers. The movie was cleanly shot with few of the herky-jerky stylized images of Scott's more recent movies, making for a nice, pleasurable viewing experience.

Denzel was quite good in a familiar role, playing a savvy federal investigator working with the FBI to determine what happened in a ferry explosion that killed hundreds. Through the investigation, he falls in love with the images of one of the victims, whom he views through a very hi-tech video surveillance system with the FBI. I won't spoil the movie for you, but Denzel finds out the FBI's surveillance system is more than it seems, and begins to wonder if there is a way he can change the past and prevent not only the ferry bombing but save the girl's wife as well.

James Caviezel, a totally underrated actor who deserves more credit, plays a good bad guy, who turns out to be an ultra-patriotic right wing nut job (of course, it wouldn't be politically correct to actually cast an Arab or muslim as a terrorist who blows up a ferry, killing hundreds. we might offend them.). His motives for doing the job are shaky at best and never really explained except that he somehow believes that he is a patriot for spilling so much blood. Val Kilmer is wooden as the FBI agent who cooperates with Denzel's character.

I gave this movie three stars, I liked it, but it wasn't fast paced enough for a thriller or action movie. There are some tense moments and some solid action sequences, but nothing we haven't seen before and far too little of it. Let's face it - people go to a movie like this to sit down, enjoy the popcorn, and see some tense action on screen. You can't go too far or it becomes laughable, but not enough and it's merely good, but not great.

What Parents Need to Know:
Common Sense Media rates this movie as:
14+ = for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality.

Parents need to know that this violent thriller has been targeted more at adults than kids, but some teens will be interested. With the movie's terrorism storyline, it's not surprising that there are explosions, car crashes, fights, and shootings -- which result in burned, bloody, beaten, and drowned bodies. Weapons include knives, guns, bombs, and vehicles. In one scene, scientists and authorities watch voyeuristically as a woman undresses and showers in her apartment. Characters argue loudly and discuss motivations for terrorism alongside religious faith, and in one sad scene, a father grieves his daughter's murder. The language is very tame for a PG-13 film.

The only thing about the film that would give me caution as a parent is the underlying terrorist theme, but the language is indeed very tame and as I said there is less action than you would think. I would be comfortable showing this to mature kids 12+.

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 57% (Rotten)