Interesting idea with too many plot devices and TNT

Rating: 3/10 (1 December 2006)

Doug Carlin is an ATF agent investigating a bombing of a crowded New Orleans ferry which left over 500 people dead. He joins a new, highly secretive investigation unit that can literally look into the past with a new high-tech machine as they try to solve the crime.
It starts as an interesting thriller, but the misleading marketing becomes very apparent very soon. The trailer reflects a different movie and the much hyped "mystery of deja vu" is nowhere to be seen. The whole "big secret that he government doesn't want you to know" is hokey by today as it has been in science fiction since the 1940s. The plot line is admittedly interesting, but favors gimmicks, plot devices, and pyrotechnics over something truly interesting. Basically, you're run of the mill Bruckheimer flick and it is getting quite old by now. Also the plot sounds interesting, but like mentioned before, the ambitions presented in the trailer are merely marketing and go nowhere in the actual film. But they do get you to buy a ticket so Jerry Bruckheimer can add to his his Scrooge-size mountain of cash so remains happy and eager to squeeze out his next turd.
The only real good part is Tony Scott whose kinetic direction adds some decent flavor, but it is nearly ruined by some truly bizarre things. In the car chase cars get flung up to in the air for no reason, they just literally BETWEEN TWO CUTS appear to be on the ground and then all of a sudden in the air and then they land in a heap of twisted metal. However, soon after our hero gets slammed head on by an 18-wheeler and he and his car remain virtually unscathed. I mean, please, I don't want 100% realism, but you have to keep things consistent WITHIN THE FILM.
That stuff would be forgivable if the story was good, but ridiculous plot devices push the story to a sappy end and that effectively destroys the interesting premise. 3/10
Rated PG-13: violence and intense action. Gets pretty close to an R though. Maybe after he is done blowing everything up, Jerry Bruckheimer will invent a new rating: NC-13. Just a thought.