Review of Déjà Vu (2006) by Filipeneto — 02 Nov 2019

When a bomb destroys a passenger ferry in New Orleans, killing hundreds of people, investigator Doug Carlin is recruited to a special investigative unit, which aims to uncover the perpetrator using video surveillance footage four days before the attack. But Carlin soon realizes that, after all, they are using a "wormhole" that allows them to watch, live, what happened in the past, within that restricted area where the attack took place.

Well, what we have here is an original idea. We have seen a series of films, mostly pure sci-fi, that explore the idea of "wormholes" linking the present with the past and allowing time travel. What we have here goes a little further, with professional surveillance machinery that overcomes building walls and ravages people's privacy most easily (which, if one day is true, is at least a terrifying prospect). Although the film's central idea is imaginative and has little credibility, the movie plays well with that and the possibilities, positive and negative, of altering the past: paradoxes, alter egos, we have it all. Nevertheless, I did not always feel convinced. As I said, there are credibility flaws. The biggest problem this entails is that this is the only differentiator of this movie... without this issue of time travel and "wormholes", the movie is a trite thriller like so many others.

Tony Scott, whom I didn't know until this movie, seems to have done a decent job. I liked the work of Denzel Washington, who is an extremely capable actor, even when he has no material at his height and experiences a boring and banal character, as in this case. Val Kilmer has a faded and discreet character that is not well suited for the actor, and Jim Caviezel also received bad material and a weak character. Paula Patton is the victim, serving only to die or appear half-naked in scenes designed to attract male audiences.

From a technical point of view, it is a regular movie that brings no surprises. A trite photograph without great artistic elements, a discreet soundtrack and unremarkable visual elements. Special effects, with all the explosions, chases and action scenes, are the most striking technical element of the movie.

This is an absolutely average thriller, which only stands out due to a conceptual originality of the script, which was not always presented and developed as effectively as it should.