Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Déjà Vu (2006)

Starring Denzel Washington

Déjà Vu is a mix of movie genres (thriller, science fiction, and romance), and Denzel Washington brings them together smoothly and gracefully. He makes it all look easy, and it is not.

A ferry explodes as it approaches a New Orleans wharf, killing 500+ people including a number of sailors on leave. As authorities converge on the scene of the destruction, Denzel Washington arrives. He is an ATF agent investigating the explosion. He quickly and expertly analyzes the evidence and concludes that the explosion was not an accident, but an act of terror. So far, the movie seems like a police procedural, where we follow people as they do their jobs.

But then it veers into science fiction. A shadowy group of men in a special task force invite Washington to join them as they work to solve the case. He enters a high-tech installation filled with computers and video screens. It seems some scientists developed special technology that gives them a window into the past (four days and six hours ago, to be precise). Furthermore, it appears as if the observer is seeing the events as they unfold, and from any angle, plus hearing everything, as well. They give a semi-plausible explanation about orbiting satellites and interpolation of data, but it basically looks and feels like magic.

In other, less-skilled hands, such a movie would simply zoom into the high-tech premise and therefore be of only limited interest to most moviegoers (other than sci-fi fans). But Washington brings us into it all by reacting realistically and sympathetically to what he sees and hears. Such is his acting skill that we drop our doubts and cynicism and buy in to everything we see.

As Washington investigate the crime with the fancy high-tech stuff, he zooms in (literally as well as figuratively) on one particular woman. She was killed prior to the ferry explosion, yet seems linked to it. As Washington vicariously observes her life of four days ago, he sees the strands of a plot coalescing around her and drawing her to her death. He sees a vital, funny, beautiful, caring woman, and is moved personally as well as professionally to work to track down her killer, solve the ferry explosion, and arrest the perpetrators. Then he sees the possibility of changing what has happened…

Déjà Vu has some scenes of violence and action, but it is not primarily an action/thriller. The movie has an intricate plot, and as each scene unfolds the prior pieces fit together and make sense. Washington makes a very good leading man, and we care about what happens to him as he throws himself into trying to stop a tragedy and save the woman he realizes he’s coming to love.

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