Cool sci-fi idea on paper

Rating: 6/10 (20 September 2014)

A ferry filled with USS Nimitz sailors and families is blown up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) investigates the suspected terrorist attack. They find the body of Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton) who seems to be killed before the bombing. FBI Agent Jack McCready (Bruce Greenwood) is in charge. Carlin's partner's car is left in the ferris' parking lot and ends up in the investigation. Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) brings him into a new experimental FBI unit called Snow White run by scientist Dr. Alexander Denny (Adam Goldberg) who uses spacefolding to see events 4 days 6 hours into the past. Carlin suspects that he can change history.
This is a great sci-fi idea and I imagine that it would make a great book. However it's biggest difficulty is to make a bunch of people sitting around watching a monitor as something exciting. The sad truth is that it's not exciting no matter how well director Tony Scott films it. He is probably the only one capable of energizing that room with kinetic power. However even he has his limits to his fast quick edits flashing sound-and-fury style. It's noticeable that the drive in the middle of the movie is derived almost exclusively from Tony Scott trying to make watching computer screens exciting.