Deja Vu

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2011)

Have I seen this before? I watched the previews and went in wondering if this movie would be much like Tony Scott's Deja Vu from 2006 where the guy keeps going back in time to save the world and get the girl in the end. So, the guy actually does not go back in time, or does he? Same question I asked at the end of Deja Vu - how many times had the main character gone back in time to fix a mess? If you saw Deja Vu, then you've seen a version of this movie. It is predictable. But the action is sharper and at a better pace. Also, Gyllenhaal does a good job of bringing presence to the screen. He has that star-power (not saying Washington doesn't). Farmiga does a good job, considering you see her mostly through a small screen. She gives pointed doses of emotion just at the right times. Wright does a killer job as Dr. Rutledge. He hits a bunch of stereotypes: geek scientist, slash brilliant nutty professor, slash can't see the harm he's doing because he's buried in his experiment. The "recall" scenes were different enough where you were able to tolerate all of the trips back in time. A nice add-in was Scott Bakula on the phone as Mr. Stevens. Monaghan's character could have been given more substance. But in eight minutes, you get what you get. I did leave wondering why a trained military guy couldn't seem to keep hold of a gun? The conductors take it, Frost takes it, but okay. He's a pilot. Do we really like Hollywood endings so much that we end up sitting there being able to easily predict the outcome? When there's a good twist ending, it's really worth it.