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Movie Review - Déjà Vu (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Tony Scott |
| Starring: |
Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, James Caviezel, and Paula Patton |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality) |
| Length: |
128 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
If you thought it was just a trick of the mind, prepare yourself for the truth. |
| Studio: |
Touchstone Pictures |
| Website: |
Déjà Vu |
| Release: |
November 22, 2006 |
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PLOT
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After a bomb sets off an explosion on a New Orleans ferry, killing 543 passengers, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Washington)
is called in to recover evidence and determine what exactly happened and who is behind it. As his investigation
deepens, Carlin discovers a puzzling emotional connection to a woman whose past holds the key to catching the man
behind this act of terrorism. Add to that new technology that can defy the laws of time and space, and Carlin is
faced with a case unlike any other he's ever handled. The Vu ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Déjà Vu. We've all experienced it. That strange feeling that a particular event has played out somehow, somewhere
before in our lives. But where does it come from? Is it in the mind? Does it mean something? These are questions
we've wondered, but chances are that our answers don't involve parallel universes or messages from our past. We'll
let Hollywood handle those fictional theories.
So listen up and repeat after me - this ... is ... SCIENCE ... FICTION! Got it? Good. If you can embrace the time
traveling theme and can avoid thinking too hard about the movie's logic then you should have no problem
sitting back and enjoying the ride. Leave your Industrial-sized Nit-Picker ($19.99 at a Wal-Mart near you) at home
for this one, folks, because the intention is for audiences to get swept up in a world not quite like our own.
Combining strong acting, exciting action, several moments of unforced humor, and an intriguing
watch-the-pieces-of-the-puzzle-fall-into-place sci-fi plot, Déjà Vu delivers a good old-fashioned dose
of escapism. Sure, there are plot holes and minor problems to be found if you look closely enough, but what's the
point? This ain't a Physics thesis, chico. Déjà Vu is simply for people who want to have fun at the movies
for a couple of hours.
My favorite scene involves one of the more unique car chases I've seen in a movie. Due to the time travel aspects,
we're treated to a dual chase. Denzel is using a piece of equipment that allows him to see what's happening four
days in the past, and at the same time he's driving in the present, trying to avoid cars while doing his
best to keep up with the terror suspect in the past. It sounds a little confusing, but it's fun trying to keep up
with both the past and present chases at the same time. You just have to see it.
Rather than reveal any more specifics, I'll let you head in with as little knowledge about the story as
possible. I don't want to say too much because then when you're watching it everything will seem
familiar and you'll think you're experiencing *snicker* Déjà Vu - the feeling, not the movie. I'd hate to be
the one to blow those parallel universe theories out of the water.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Jerry Bruckheimer says the Déjà Vu script was one of the most impressive he's ever read, "The concept of Déjà Vu
was completely original, a real page-turner, and different from any other love story I had ever read. We were
fortunate enough to be the first ones to get a peek at it, so we bought the screenplay within forty-eight hours of
receiving it."
- Tony Scott, Denzel, and Jerry Bruckheimer all worked together on Crimson Tide while Tony, Jerry, and
Val all worked together on Top Gun.
- Despite his severe lack of face time in the trailer, Val is actually in the movie.
- Scientists on the fringes of new discoveries in quantum physics have suggested that déjà vu could be the result
of parallel universes that accidentally intersect when the fabric of space-time is disrupted
- Johnny thinks these scientists are definitely on the fringe of SOMETHING.
- In order to get a better handle on what pioneering physicists believe about how time really operates,
Bruckheimer and Scott went right to the source: they picked the brains of several world-class physicists including
Dr. Brian Greene, an expert on String Theory and a professor of physics at Columbia University who has written such
popular explorations of general relativity and quantum mechanics as The Fabric of the Cosmos and The
Elegant Universe.
- Dr. Greene explains that time isn’t always what it seems to be. For example, when you look at yourself in a
mirror that is 8 feet away, you might think you’re seeing yourself right now, but you are actually looking at
yourself as you existed 16 nanoseconds ago. That 16 nanoseconds is the time it takes for light to reflect off your
face at the mirror and come back. So, in a sense, you are actually looking into the past. Also, whenever you look
up in the night sky to admire the North Star, even though it appears to be twinkling right at you, in fact you are
actually peering at the star as it was 630 years ago.
- Don't bother setting up a video camera and trying to capture differences between you and yourself from
16 nanoseconds ago. Sounds cool in concept, but it's a few hours of wasted time that you'll never get
back.
- Though there are many different views of how parallel universes might operate, one of the most popular
explanations comes from something called String Theory. String Theory states that the universe consists of tiny
strings or membranes that vibrate in 11 dimensions. In this theory of a multi-dimensional cosmos, parallel
universes could be separated from our own by as little as a fraction of a millimeter. Greene uses the analogy that
our universe and everything in it might be just one thin slice of bread in an inconceivably vast loaf.
- Bruckheimer and Scott considered moving their filming location from New Orleans, but they both agreed that from
the unique architecture of the French Quarter to the swamps of the bayou, there was no other place to film this
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- Denzel Washington is in the upcoming American Gangster with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with
Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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I'm shocked at the lack of profanity in the movie! There's nothing here that you can't hear on network TV. This is
especially surprising since this is Tony Scott's first PG-13 movie since 1990's Days of Thunder.
Warning to parents - there's no real nudity in the movie, but we do see Paula Patton a bit exposed within shadows
during a shower scene. Warning to EVERYBODY - we see the top of some fat, hairy man's butt in one frightening
scene.
Some of the violence and scenes of terrorism might be a bit much for the wee ones, but those in their teens and
above should be just fine.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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I enjoyed the trailer, and I enjoyed the movie. Feel free to use it as your guide.
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THE GIST
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You know, why try to rephrase something that I said so well the first time around? If you don't mind then I'll
wrap this up by quoting myself: "Combining strong acting, exciting action, several moments of unforced humor, and
an intriguing watch-the-pieces-of-the-puzzle-fall-into-place sci-fi plot, Déjà Vu delivers a good
old-fashioned dose of escapism."
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