Tony Scott's Visual Flash and Panache Give This Average Story A Kick In The Pants

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2006)

Despite the fact that many folks seem to embrace Ridley Scott's grandiose directorial style, they often refer to younger brother Tony's work as "amateurish." I on the other hand can't help but be wowed by Tony Scott's flashy, in your face, kinetic editing style. Deja Vu would have been "just another thriller" had it not been for Scott's trademark touches. That being said it's Scott's style coupled with some solid performances that are the only things holding together what otherwise probably would have been just another dumbed down Bruckheimer explosionfest helmed by Michael Bay.
Storywise I have to say that I was let down. The initial trailer for this film had me all hyped as I thought it would be a deep psychological thriller that actually dealt with something that at least remotely resembled Deja Vu and not "I got to see stuff that happened 4 days ago on a giant flatscreen... that's kind of like Deja Vu right?" Wrong. Figures as it's a Bruckheimer production. In a nutshell the basic premise behind Deja Vu is that the government has found a way to see 4 days into the past and with that came my first question which was "how the hell did this screenplay sell for $5 million dollars?" Things don't really get ridiculous until the last 20-30 minutes though. Throughout the film we're told "we can't send anyone back in time, we can't change the past, it can't be done" and yet somehow toward the end of the film, someone is sent back through time. It's at this point that the main protagonist figures out what we as the audience knew all along and after all is said and done we get a slap in the face in the form of a cheesy, predictable, happy go lucky ending which totally doesn't fit with the tone of the film, especially after the protagonist and antagonist share a conversation about sacrifice and patriotism. Perhaps I was expecting too much? In my opinion the term "Deja Vu" was used as nothing more than a gimmick here. You might as well call this film "4 days ago."
The performances from the leads were solid all around. Denzel is of course... well he's Denzel. When he rants and raves on the big screen he commands the attention of the other characters as well as the audience. Val Kilmer's performance is pretty straightforward, but the performance I was both most impressed and disappointed with was Jim Caviezel's. As much as I was wowed by his character I was so intrigued by him that it made me angry that he got such little screen time. True they did describe in brief what motivated him to do the things he did but it all felt so rushed as he only showed up as the film was hitting it's stride.
And then there's Tony Scott's direction. Simply put, if you enjoyed how he shot Enemy of The State and Spy Game, you'll most likely enjoy Deja Vu. Think similar cinematography (i.e. flashy and techy but more restrained than Man on Fire and Domino), but with a government conspiracy screenplay that's also part science fiction. Scott pulls out his familiar bag of tricks by employing things like quick flashes, zooms and edits during the scenes where the characters see into the past. All touches that add to the feeling of confusion and put you smack in the middle of the action. And when things heat up and Denzel takes off after Caviezel in a Humvee, things get really impressive. Using a helmet that basically allows Washington's character to see into the past, Denzel drives around New Orleans with one eye looking straight ahead at the road, and the other eye focused on a screen showing the same road 4 days ago. One shot has his character looking at the screen that shows him the past as he ignores the threat of a semi coming straight at him which the audience can see in plain sight. Then all of a sudden... well I won't spoil it but talk about slick direction. Of course you have your slow motion crashes and water shots as well as Scott's trademark aerial pans around the city which help to immerse you in the environment. Some might dismiss these techniques as cheap tricks but simply put, I like the way he chops things and edits them back together.
In the end it's these flashy details that help to save what is really a mediocre script. The idea of a story where destiny supposedly has a plan for a character and where said character thinks he's changing things when in fact he's acting in accordance with whatever plan destiny has for him in the first place has been done in the past in films such as Minority Report and The Matrix, yet the style of direction is almost enough to make Deja Vu feel relatively fresh. Definitely not the deep thinker of a thriller I was hoping for, but a flashy, showy take on a concept that's been done before that overall makes for an entertaining popcorn flick. True the only Deja Vu you'll experience during this film is Scott's kinetic style, but if you're a fan of his work it's worth a viewing. 7/10.