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Title: Deja Vu (2006)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Denzel Washington | ... | Doug Carlin | |
| Paula Patton | ... | Claire Kuchever | |
| Val Kilmer | ... | Agent Pryzwarra | |
| Jim Caviezel | ... | Carroll Oerstadt | |
| Adam Goldberg | ... | Denny | |
| Elden Henson | ... | Gunnars | |
| Erika Alexander | ... | Shanti | |
| Bruce Greenwood | ... | Jack McCready | |
| Rich Hutchman | ... | Agent Stalhuth | |
| Matt Craven | ... | Minuti | |
| Donna W. Scott | ... | Beth (as Donna Scott) | |
| Elle Fanning | ... | Abbey | |
| Brian Howe | ... | Medical Examiner | |
| Enrique Castillo | ... | Claire's Father | |
| Mark Phinney | ... | Agent Donnelly | |
In the wake of a devastating terrorist attack on a slow New Orleans ferry, the A.T.F. special agent, Doug Carlin, joins an experimental top-secret government program to find the bomber. Designed to bend the very fabric of time, this state-of-the-art technology enables the user to observe a detailed representation of what happened four days and six hours in the past, tracking the target's every move prior to the attack. However, the man responsible for the deadly explosion is bound to strike again. Can Carlin figure out who he is, when he is always precisely four days behind? Written by Nick Riganas
My regular readers know I harp on and on about the tricks of narrative folding. Sometimes it must seem a stretch, but I believe this collection of devices to be at the core of cinematic storytelling. And others do too, obviously. This time, everything you see is built around this notion.
The simplest folding is where the story provides for a movie within the movie, so that we the audience can merge with the audience we see on screen. Its all about getting us engaged; simple as that. I wish we had more films that mattered, that we can actually use in building a life, but Bruckheimer has his place too, I suppose. Especially when a Scott is involved.
So what we get here is simple but extremely effective narrative folding, Scott's standard super-effective camera which knows how to be ambiguous in these matters, and both turned to the goal of grabbing us by the throat for a thrill.
The fold this time is us watching a crime as detectives, and what we see is a detective watching the same crime. So perspectives overlap and we have several scenes where our screen contains people looking at their screen, notable in the same proportion. And we also have time folding, in fact the designated scientist explains it as folding with a piece of folded paper. This allows Denzel the opportunity to be driving at high speed in two time periods at the same time. Very clever if you must follow the Bruckheimer rule of car chases that they be spectacular.
As with any Scottfree film, you must see it on a big screen, and I say that with some hesitation. That's because I know a director's cut will arrive on DVD. It'll feature some enhanced nudity. Ho Hum, nipples. But I expect it to alter the story the same way brother Ridley's director's cut of "Bladerunner" did. You will know from the trailers that Denzel's character goes back in time. Once. But you will see hints here of something that has been edited out, hints that he would have had to go back many times, like "Primer."
When he appears at the hospital, he has a marking on his chest that only an experienced traveler would place, and that isn't there the first time he goes back.. At Clair's house, he carefully moves a glass of water as a signal to one of his future selves. At the marina, there's the appearance of corpse-reducing alligators. Note my prediction on this, I see into the future: Scott will un-dumb down this story.
One interesting thing is that for the first time I can recall, Denzel's style of being is appropriate. Less interesting is how Hollywood thinks technical projects like this might look, all nice and neat with military guards all around and no maintenance techs to worry in the background. Nah.
Summary: The girl is pretty. The threat has a ticking clock. The folding works and we are thrilled. Washington isn't repellent. Stay tuned for more complexity on the DVD.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.