One thing you can count on when spending your entertainment dollars on a movie with Denzel Washington in it, is that things will be tense. Denzel has a knack for picking stories that live on that edge from start to finish without resorting to silliness. Deja Vu, his latest release, just out on video, does flirt with the outskirts of unbelievability, but does offer some interesting angles on Time Travel. Nothing new theoretically, and there’s even a logical problem, but a good, sophisticated look at it.
Denzel Washington plays an agent of the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) called in to investigate the terrorist bombing of a ferry in New Orleans that killed over 500 men, women and children. When he discovers that the body of a woman, who was thought to be a victim of the bombing, but was actually killed prior to the event, he gets interested in her case. Then, when he realizes that she had left him a voicemail just before dying, he understands that if he finds her killer, he finds the bomber. Denzel’s character is drafted onto an FBI team that’s investigating the bombing with some new technology that seemingly allows them to look 4 days into the past, before the event, to find clues. Little does he know that the technology is even more fantastic than it at first appears.
Those with an interest in Time Travel will recognize the common theme of trying to change the past and finding that cause and effect don’t always have a linear relationship. This theme is mixed with the multiple/branching timeline theories for a less than profound brew, but the end is a nice example of the theory that the universe may create temporary paradoxes, but ultimately things are set right and life goes on. I enjoyed the optimism of the ending, if not its original thinking. There’s not a LOT of that. Some, but not a lot.
All in all, if you’re a fan of TT genre, Deja Vu is a good watch.
