Having read great reviews of "Deja Vu" by some of the more prominent film critics in the country, I went to the theater expecting at least a well-made movie. This film, more than any other, has taught me never to trust the critics. When watching "Deja Vu," I felt as though I was seeing the first attempt at film-making by an adolescent. The acting, especially by Victoria Foyt (the writer, female lead, and wife of the director), was horrendous. (After watching the film, I visited IMDb to check out Foyt's film history. I learned that she has been in three films, all of which she wrote and all of which were directed by her husband. This, in and of itself, should lead viewers to be suspicious of her abilities.) The camera work was also distracting and poorly done. I felt as though I were watching a home movie shot by someone who has just realized that his camera can zoom in and out. The editing was choppy, at best. Long periods of time passed in which Victoria Foyt is seen staring off into space, supposedly thinking deep thoughts. But never are we given any reason to believe this could be the case. The music is dramatic, but in a nauseating way, supposedly serving to further prove that Foyt is as deep as she's pretending to be. Finally, the storyline is weak. If I had submitted this screenplay in a high school writing class, my teacher would surely have told me I had used every cliche in the book. A series of coincidences happens throughout the movie, and not one of them is believable. By the end of the film, with the last great "surprise" (which any halfway intelligent person could see coming from the first half hour), my reaction was to laugh at the writing, the acting, and the film as a whole. The only positive thing I can say about "Deja Vu" is that if weak films like this one are being produced, future writers need only realize that perseverance is all it takes in order to find an audience. Quality is, apparently, virtually unimportant.
