On the first Mardi Gras following Hurricane Katrina, as the city of New Orleans struggles to rebuild, a terrorist detonates a massive car bomb on a ferry, killing hundreds of reveling passengers. An ATF agent (Denzel Washington) participating in the investigation identifies a connection between the bombing and a beautiful woman (Paula Patton) found murdered the same day. Soon he is working with a federal agent (Val Kilmer) and his team who have at their disposal a high tech satellite system which allows them to reconstruct, at any singular point, the events four and a half days in the past. It becomes clear though, that this is a much more powerful tool and that it may just be possible to alter the past, save the girl, and prevent the massacre on the ferry. Tony Scott's "Deja Vu" doesn't bear close scrutiny. In fact, it actually bears no scrutiny, and is frankly downright preposterous. However, it is a fun movie, and when disbelief is allowed to be suspended, it even has a few clever tricks up its sleeve. For longtime Scott collaborator, Washington delivers one of his finest performances and it is to both his credit, as well as Patton's, that they are able to invest such weight in their charcters' tenuous and surprisingly heartfelt relationship. When Tony Scott sadly and shockingly took his own life last month, I felt a lot of the obituaries were over the top in their praising of his work. Watching "Deja Vu", and thinking of some of his other films I've liked ("Unstoppable", "Crimson Tide", "Man on Fire"), I realized how much he excelled at his craft, and considering who remains in the arena, how deeply his loss will be felt.
