'Deja Vu' isn't worth a second look

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Denzel Washington tries to save lives while negotiating a complicated and not-always-credible plot in "Deja Vu," the latest thriller from director Tony Scott.

The ever reliable Washington keeps "Deja Vu" from flying off the screen, no small feat because the movie contains more ingredients than a New Orleans gumbo: domestic terrorism, time travel, post-Katrina rot, simmering romance and the occasional conversation about advanced physics.

Anyone familiar with Scott's work ("Top Gun," "Days of Thunder" and "Man on Fire") knows that he's a master of visual flash. Scott excels at big-screen pyrotechnics, but this time he links the expected car chases, explosions and high-tech hysteria to a plot that's meant to deliver a mind-bending blow.

"Deja Vu" opens with a horrifying bang. Celebrating Navy enlisted men and their families are blown up on a New Orleans ferry. As a crack Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigator, Doug Carlin (Washington) goes CSI, inspecting the crime scene with precision and fervor.

Among other things, Carlin learns that a beautiful young woman (Paula Patton), whose body washed ashore, probably was killed before the blast and her corpse may hold clues to who committed the crime. Carlin comes to believe that the woman's killer and the bomber are one in the same.

The movie's twist arrives when Carlin is told that the government operates a super-sophisticated satellite-based surveillance system. It's always four days behind the present, which means that the FBI (represented by Val Kilmer) might be able to scan the docks and identify the fiend who blew up the ferry.

As Carlin immerses himself in the case, he becomes increasingly interested in the woman at the center of his investigation. Using the surveillance equipment, he observes her in the days before her death.

It doesn't take long before we discover that the surveillance equipment might allow someone to travel back in time. Could such a time traveler alter events to prevent the future in which the ferry blew up?

Scott, who worked with Washington on "Crimson Tide" and "Man on Fire," could have used some editorial surveillance to rid himself of tin-eared elements in the script. The way various law enforcement agencies react to the opening act of terrorism doesn't ring true. Some of the cops display the kind of cynical attitudes that belong in other movies. They don't always sound like cops working on a case in which 500 people were killed.

In the end, Washington _operating with customary cool _ has more credibility than the plot, which includes a coda that may leave you scratching your head.

For all its complications, "Deja Vu" didn't make me want to see it again. For me, once was enough for an often engaging, if not especially believable, thriller. But say this for Scott, he keeps your eyes busy enough to put your questions on hold.