Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Deja Vu

I realize this review is a bit late to the masses, but better late than never. Here goes.

The premise of this movie plays on one of man's greatest fascinations in documented history, being able to travel through time. It is the focus of countless other films, books, tv shows and stories. Many believe that some day we will be able to do it while many others shrug it off as impossible. Either way your views swing, Deja Vu impresses.

First off, Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors. As the first African American to win an Oscar for best actor in Training Day, he is deserving of my praises because he almost always puts on an extraordinary performance. With expert direction by Tony Scott (Domino, Man on Fire) and production by Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean, CSI TV Series), the movie keeps you intrigued until the very end.

The cinematograhy is much like that of Man on Fire (another Denzel movie), with a lot of emphasis on the actors screen presence itself and not a lot on gimmicks and "fluff" imagery.

The entire focus of the movie is on Denzel, even with Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton) playing delightful eye-candy for the viewers as supporting actress. You almost completely forget that Val Kilmer is in the movie, mainly because he now looks like a pumpkin and hasn't done a notable movie in some years. Hell, I will go as far as saying I haven't liked anything he has been in since Heat back in 1995 (one of my all-time favorite movies).

Overall, Deja Vu is worth the money in theater or renting when it's on DVD. I will probably end up buying it because I want my Denzel collection to be complete. It isn't a shocker however. Again, the premise of the movie has been used before, but with a few extra twists, turns and a slightly new purpose there is enough freshness to be entertaining. The more I think about it the more this movie reminds me of the TV series "Seven Days" but the movie is definitely better; maybe it's just because Jerry Bruckheimer has more money.

I give Deja Vu 3.5 "Mitch Heads" for a fun ride but relatively old and abused theme.

- Mitch G

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