Everyone have experienced the unsettling mystery of déjà vu--that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you've known all your life or recognize a place even though you've never been there before. But what if the feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to the future?Déjà Vu is a science fiction crime thriller directed by Tony Scott, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Denzel Washington. It is a thriller that uses time travel as the device upon which it rests it's plot. The end result is a film that is thrilling and deals intelligently with the theory of time travel. This movie was the first film made in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was determined to film in this city that provided such haunting scenery.
It's Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, February 2006. The city, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, is about to take another blow. A ferry explodes just off shore, sending terrifying black and red flames 350 feet in the air and causing the deaths of 543 people, many of them members of the military and their children. It's identified almost immediately as an act of terrorism. Called in to investigate is Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington), of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, examining the debris and looking for “what doesn’t belong.” He soon finds what he is looking for, a beautiful young woman, Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), who appears to be a victim of the ferry explosion, but was discovered before the explosion happened. Later on, Carlin discovers a connection between the ferry bombing and the murder of a young woman.
Doug's expertise catches the eye of FBI agent Andrew Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer), who pulls him in to take part in a top-secret project run by the brainy Dr. Alexander Denny (Adam Goldberg). Said project, involves digitally re-creating the past through surveillance cameras, combining all the satellite images and using software to show every detail of what happened they can see the past play out in 3D. The glitch is that they can only see 4 days 6 hours into the past, however they can manipulate their angle of view as well as zoom in and out of any scene. But Carlin doesn't believe them. He thinks it's something else, and he's determined to find out what. And this will lead Carlin to discover that what most people believe "is only in their heads" is actually something far more powerful and will lead him on a mind-bending race to save hundreds of innocent people.
The time travel portion of the film is a clever plot device that allows some various reveals and action sequences. Among those action sequences in one of the most unique and engrossing car chases that I have seen in quite some time. It gives the writers license to play with the facts and switch things around when you least expect it. It is a device that works perfectly with the visual sensibilities of Scott and lets the script from Bill Marsilii and Terry Rossio have a little fun with the subject. At the heart of the film is Denzel Washington, an actor who displays an on screen charisma and intelligence that fits right in with everything that is going on.
Bottomline is Tony Scott creates another compelling piece of pop cinema. It gives the appearance of brains, delivers the adrenaline filled goods and leaves you happy, slightly confused, but definitely entertained. If you missed to watch this fascinating movie in the big screen, then this is your chance to see it by grabbing a DVD copy of this film. Just visit our DVD auction site at DVD.TV to get more details on how you can get this very entertaining movie of Déjà Vu in DVD.
