Review: Deja Vu

UK release date: 15th December

Denzel Washington reteams with his Crimson Tide and Man on Fire director Tony Scott for this sci-fi thriller about manipulating the past to save lives in the future.

Washington plays Doug Carlin, a New Orleans federal agent investigating a huge bombing, who is given access to a top-secret government “time window” that lets him see into the past. He then tries to solve the crime, and also prevent it from ever happening.

The screenplay provides some provocative commentary on surveillance, home-grown terrorism and the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, but Scott is far more interested in crash, bang, wallop pyrotechnics — in particular, a freeway car chase that occurs simultaneously in both the past and the present.

This is a gloriously dumb thriller that occasionally teases with some serious themes, but doesn’t quite follow them through.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 126mins

Review by Jamie Russell

News: Tony Scott

Always destined to be both Ridley’s less talented little brother and the man responsible for homoerotic 80s cheesefest Top Gun, Tony Scott’s on his typical competent form with this week’s Deja Vu. His planned remake of the 1979 cult gang warfare classic The Warriors still apparently on hold, Scott will no doubt be hoping instead to get his other planned movie, Emma’s War, off the ground. Revolving around a female aid worker in the Sudan who falls in love with a local warlord, Nicole Kidman was at one point rumoured to be interested and, with Africa seemingly popular with the Academy at the moment, with the right cast and screenplay Scott no doubt knows that this could finally bring him his Oscar.

If, of course, he can ever get it made…