Suspend your sense of logic and enjoy the ride, if only for Denzel Washington

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2006)

(Watched in Toronto)
It is very difficult to talk about Deja Vu because the very mention of its fundamental premise would take away a lot of fun in watching it. The way the movie is really going does not take shape until halfway through and although you can guess to a certain extent, the fun is in the guessing. What I'll do therefore is to talk first about things that are "safe" to mention and bring in an addition spoiler warning before going any further.
One cinematic axiom, to me at least, is that any movie with Denzel Washington is worth watching. In terms of personal experience, this axiom has always held true, and "Déjà vu" is no exception. Just that wickedly charming Washington smile in difficult situations is worth the price of the ticket. As to newcomer Paula Patton, the classic Latin beauty and damsel-in-distress combination is enough to make an overwhelming majority if the male audience want to jump through a black hole to her rescue.
There is an intriguing story and here is cliffhanging tension. There is also meticulous attention to details. A great deal of effort is also evident in putting the camera to the best use, so that every frame is a stimulating experience to the audience. As to the script, well, that's where it becomes interesting. I looked up two prominent critics: one calls it "intelligent" while the other "a mess". There you have it! But it's also going into an area where a big spoiler warning is called for.
ADDITIONAL SPOILER WARNING!
Time travel is not exactly groundbreaking for a movie. Even narrowing down to the premise of trying to change the course of event by travelling back in time, there has been too many to mention, from successes e.g. "Back to the future" to failures e.g. "The time machine" (2002). The second half of "Déjà vu" is REALLY deja vu, in terms of covering these very familiar premises. It's the FIRST HALF of the movie that is quite imaginative, although you may not want to go so far as to call it groundbreaking.
In trying to solve a crime, local ATF (alcohol, tobacco, firearms/explosives) agent Doug Carlin (Washington) is enlisted by the FBI for his keen detective sense and local background. If you have not been contaminated with spoilers, you would have a lot of fun being led down the path of surprises, with initially a team of science wiz that can bring back images from 4 days ago, anywhere on this planet, as if things were happening right now. The catch is that these two timelines  4 days ago and present  flow in parallel and you can't pause what you see happening four days ago. That gives rise to a mind-boggling, exciting and ingenious car chase scene  with one eye looking into a gadget, you are following a car that is in front of you FOUR DAYS AGO while with the other eye, you are see the actual, present traffic. Yes, it defies all your sense of logic and you can even call it stupid. But that doesn't stop it from being a load of fun, particularly when it is so skilfully shot.
It isn't until about half-way through the movie, although you might have suspected earlier, that you not only can SEE what happens 4 days ago, but you can BE there. The way this was brought about is when suspecting agent Carlin pulls a quick one on the team of scientists by suddenly shooting a laser beam to the screen, thereby triggering a reaction from the protagonist who is supposed to the there 4 days ago, and DEAD NOW. All these are absolute nonsense and not even by invoking things like space folding back on itself can make it less absurd. But, as I said, it does not stop the movie from being a lot of fun, due large to the fact that is has been so skilfully crafted.
So you get the idea. This is the sort of movie that can only be enjoyed by suspending all your sense of logic, and let yourself be caught in its pace and mood and enjoy the ride. After all, it's the magic of movies.