Pellet reviews: Deja Vu

As you can see, I'm working through the movie library backlog. The latest one - Deja Vu - comes courtesy of hyperkinetic director Tony Scott and academy award-winning actor Denzel Washington. What starts out as an investigation of a terrorist bombing of a ferry in post-Katrina New Orleans turns into a sci-fi trip into space-time folds and time warping stuff. The title alludes to it ("haven't we met before?").

I'm a big fan of movies that you have to re-watch, because you want to re-take the emotional, visual, or intellectual journey of when you first watched the movie, or if you want to catch things you've not seen the first time around. This movie falls into the second category, although I would likely stop at the second pass. This is certainly not in Memento's league, and certainly does not have the sci-fi effects gallery that warrants a must-rewatch. However, there are a few tight action and suspense sequences that do keep you engaged, and a wonderful plot device that explains how people can watch the past like a movie (multiple camera angles and all) which helps in the suspension of disbelief.

This, for me, rates as a good popcorn flick on a night when your alternatives are the news and reruns of your favorite shows. The jury is still out as to whether this is a keeper or not, but definitely a "not" after a to-be-determined second viewing. Personally i thought "The Butterfly Effect" had more emotional resonance on top of the sci-fi premise. Maybe its current movie cousin - The Source Code - will have a better approach to the "Groundhog Day" genre.