Common Sense Media Review
Time-travel thriller has violence, language, brief nudity.
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Deja Vu
What's the Story?
A thriller with a science-fiction twist, DÉJÀ VU begins with a terrorist attack: A bomb explodes aboard a ferry carrying families and Navy sailors on leave. Among the authorities trying to sort out the crime scene is ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington), who's particularly good at reading details. His acute interpretations of bomb residues, bodies, and video surveillance tapes draw the attention of FBI special agent Paul Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer), who recruits Doug for a special anti-terrorism team. Complications arise when Doug learns that a body showed signs of the explosion despite dying minutes before the bomb went off. The FBI then trots out surveillance technology that enables them to observe the victim during their final few days, hoping that'll lead them to the terrorist. Doug quickly figures out that this setup isn't what it appears to be.
Is It Any Good?
Washington's focused performance holds the movie's various generic and thematic strands together. Doug is certainly an intrepid and even romantic hero, grounding Déjà Vu as he devotes himself to Claire's case. But he's also a believably skeptical detective, and his questions about motives and technologies tend to mirror the audience's. This third collaboration between Washington and director Tony Scott (the others being 2004's Man on Fire and 1995's Crimson Tide) combines elaborate stunts and psychological ambiguities in order to challenge audience expectations.
The effectiveness of this combination is manifest in the movie's characterization of suspect Carroll Oerstadt (Jim Caviezel). His desire for revenge against the U.S. military is at once personal and political, with oblique connections to current recruitment concerns as well as definitions of "patriotism." Such details make Déjà Vu, although uneven, more intriguing than the usual action thriller.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the concept of déjà vu: How does it provide a dramatic hook for a movie?
What are the characters' different motivations (revenge, self-sacrifice, desire, revulsion, science, faith, etc.)? How do different motivations lead to different results?
What would you change about your own behavior if you could go back in time? Why?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 21, 2006
- On DVD or streaming : April 24, 2007
- Cast : Denzel Washington , Paula Patton , Val Kilmer
- Director : Tony Scott
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Touchstone Pictures
- Genre : Thriller
- Run time : 125 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality.
- Last updated : September 26, 2024
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