Like a good wine, Scott matures with "Deja Vu"

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2006)

"Deja Vu" is an intelligent and sophisticated thrilled from master craftsman Tony Scott, and sublime actor Denzel Washington, that delivers on all counts: plot, acting, script, cinematography, score, action, tension and coolness factor. James Caviezel is one of the best on-screen villains in a long while. And it's not just Washington who falls for his leading lady, Paula Patton, we all do. She is stunning and believable without the prima donna factor of her ingénue predecessor, Halle Berry.
Easily one of Scott's best films in the last decade, if not a contender for one of his best ever. I would rank this one above the top-notch, "Man on Fire", simply because it is not so dark and more accessible, i.e. it's not just a guy's flick like so much of Tony Scott's canon.
This film is deserving of the same level of audience attention his blockbuster smash hits with Tom Cruise generated in the 80's and 90's with "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder". However, unlike those populist, decade defining films, this one is not pure pabulum for an excess-craving masses. "Deja Vu" has a brain working hard beneath its visually arresting exterior. It's concerned less with glamour than with its chief purpose, time-busting. This pays off in dividends, as it ranks as one of the most well thought out and believable time travel films ever made.
More poignant than "Domino", with little to no "cheese factor", it feels like, "Deja Vu", is the film Scott's been attempting to make for the last half-decade since "Spy Games" in 2001. In 2004 he conjured character and mood with the revenge themed "Man on Fire", then O.D.'d on form and style with a saturated palette in "Domino". Having worked those forces out, he's cleared the way for this toned-down, grown-up thriller.
The various techniques Scott uses to take his audience on a visceral ride: the blending of film stocks, "Domino"; technological wizardry, "Enemy of the State"; cojones, "Man on Fire"; awesome car-chases, pick a film; and great romantic intensity, "Top Gun", are all contained in "Deja Vu".
"Deja Vu" grabs you by the heart and brings your brain along for the ride. Two hours fly by and you've lost track of all time, literally. A reviewer I know has a reverse scale for rating films. She judges them by how many times she looks at her watch during a film, no watch glances equals a great film.
This film grips its audience with the engaging premise of reweaving the fabric of time. With flawless execution, "Deja Vu" achieves its goal so masterfully, viewers will quickly forget their own investment of time with nary a watch glance.