Washington and Scott manage to make Deja Vu perfectly watchable, no matter how many times we've seen this before.
Deja Vu (2006)
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Reviews Counted:152
Fresh:86
Rotten:66
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Tony Scott tries to combine action, science fiction, romance, and explosions into one movie, but the time travel conceit might be too preposterous and the action falls apart under scrutiny.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality.
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:15-12-2006
Synopsis: After the success of 2004's MAN ON FIRE, director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington teamed up once again--this time alongside high-powered producer Jerry Bruckheimer--to deliver this big-budget... After the success of 2004's MAN ON FIRE, director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington teamed up once again--this time alongside high-powered producer Jerry Bruckheimer--to deliver this big-budget spectacle of an action picture set in post-Katrina New Orleans. The city is delivered another crushing blow when a ferry explodes, killing over 500 innocent citizens. Only this time, nature wasn't the cause of the tragedy. Enter ATF officer Doug Carlin (Washington), who is recruited by a newly formed FBI unit (headed by Val Kilmer) to help track down the killer (a Timothy McVeigh-esque Jim Caviezel). When a body is found floating in the river, it is determined that the victim was murdered before the ferry blast occurred. Unfortunately, the victim was the impossibly beautiful Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), whose death has begun to torment Carlin. Adding a new level to the investigation is a top-secret FBI invention, which allows a select group to view the past on screen as if it had been videotaped days earlier. The more Carlin sees of Kuchever, the more connected to her he becomes, until he decides to risk his life by traveling back in time and altering the course of history. Plausibility isn't the number one reason to watch a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, and DÉJÀ VU is certainly no exception. This time around, however, Bruckheimer wisely recruited Scott and Washington to bring their expertise to the project. The result is another stylish and atmospheric drama/thriller/romance/action-adventure hybrid, which raises interesting questions as it entertains. [More]
Starring: Denzel Washington, Jim Caviezel, Adam Goldberg, Bruce Greenwood
Starring: Denzel Washington, Jim Caviezel, Adam Goldberg, Bruce Greenwood, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Eldon Henson, Erika Alexander, Paul Cameron
Director: Tony Scott
Director: Tony Scott
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenwriter: Bill Marsilii, Terry Rossio
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Reviews for Deja Vu
Deja Vu starts out a lot like an expensive-looking episode of CSI before morphing into a solidly entertaining time-traveling romance.
Ed Wood, notorious as the worst film director in history, could have made the $80 million Jerry Bruckheimer time-travel thriller Déjà Vu for about $99.95 and it would have been just as believable.
Déjá Vu is an exceptionally average action thriller that has too little of both.
The usually enjoyable time-travel paradoxes about how changing the past would affect the present coming off as more annoying intrusions than anything else.
This headache-inducing Back to the Future /CSI hybrid will have you wanting to travel back in time to buy a ticket for another movie.
Deja Vu gets mighty close to goofy from time to time, but Washington pulls it all back together -- sometimes, it seems, just by being there.
Definition of redundant: A formulaic Hollywood pic that calls itself Déjà Vu.
A quirk-filled, paranoid, blood-and-sweat thriller that offers perfect pulse-racing escape for a holiday weekend.
DéjÀ Vu is so cleverly thought out and is conceived, directed and acted that the leaps in both logic and scientific theory are more fun to make than they are to ponder.
Deja Vu takes you on a wonderfully twisting and turning journey that often will leave you wondering and perhaps confused -- but ultimately leaves you with a satisfying and totally logical explanation when the credits role.
Usually a Scott-Bruckheimer production sends you home wanting a shower. But here they've caught the movie's unstoppable bayou spirit and send you home on a high.
If you stop thinking and just go with the flow, there's some talented actors who are doing their best to distract you from the hokum.
Grinds its gears while slipping from one genre to the other, but I bet you'll be pretty intrigued to see how it all turns out.
When all else fails, Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer pile on the car crashes and explosions - and you definitely have experienced those before.
Tony Scott's new film isn't as concerned with playing around or cooking up new innovations as it is in finding a new way to sell the same old chase story.
Simply put, Déjà Vu has too much explaining to do, and even then, the ending -- which I can't discuss -- feels like a cheat.
If you can surrender to the film's crazy convictions, it's a popcorn-munching wild ride worth taking.
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