When Denzel Washington hooked up with director Tony Scott for 1995’s submarine-set classic “Crimson Tide,” it marked the beginning of a beautiful, boisterous filmmaking relationship. They would reunite four more times, and even the least effective collaboration of the bunch — a souped-up adaptation of John Godey’s New York City subway thriller novel “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (that predictably fell short of the damn-near-perfect 1974 film version starring Walter Matthau) — pulsates with an adrenalized, big-budget intensity that no one’s been able to summon since Scott died in 2012.
Most of their collaborations are pretty straightforward action movies, but 2006’s “Déjà Vu” is a bonkers exception. The project originated with Terry Rossio (co-writer of all five “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies with Ted Elliott), who came up with a story about a cop who solves his girlfriend’s murder via a “time window.” Pretty basic time-travel shenanigans, right? Fortunately, Rossio brought his friend Bill Marsilii in to flesh out the premise, which was altered to have the cop fall in love with the victim as he investigates her murder. That’s more interesting, but the story was still lacking some oomph.
Rossio and Marsilii kept tinkering, and wound up with a red-hot spec script that sold to producer Jerry Bruckheimer for a still record $5 million. Scott and Washington were immediately re-teamed, which occasioned more re-writing (mostly at the former’s behest, particularly after he briefly quit the project). By the time “Déjà Vu” went before cameras, it had become a wild time-travel sci-fi-action-thriller hybrid that embraces its preposterous concept and goes full tilt with a number of inventively chaotic set pieces. And it would’ve been a big hit, had Disney not opened it one week after the debut of “Casino Royale.”
Read more: 19 Critically-Panned Sci-Fi Movies That Are Actually Worth Your Time
Déjà Vu boasts one of the 21st century’s most insanely exciting car chases
Denzel Washington as Doug Carlin dons a time window helmet while chasing down a truck in the past in Déjà Vu – Touchstone Pictures
Currently available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV, “Déjà Vu” opens with the unsettling sight of a New Orleans ferry, packed with U.S. Navy officers and their families, getting blown to smithereens as it passes under a bridge on the Mississippi River. Washington’s ATF Special Agent Doug Carlin is a part of the investigation, and quickly zeroes in on victim Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), whose body was found by the riverside, and whom he believes was kidnapped and murdered by the bomber prior to the explosion.
FBI Agent Paul Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) recruits Carlin to use a sophisticated satellite program to retrace Kuchever’s steps in the days prior to the attack. As he begins to put the pieces together, he realizes this new technology is actually a time window. This leads him to slap on a time-window equipped helmet, hop in a humvee and, in the present day, chase the bomber as he speeds to his hideout several days prior. Explaining this sequence can’t come close to doing it justice. Just know that Carlin does this a) with one eye in the present and the other in the past, and b) for style points, in the middle of the day while crossing a traffic-packed New Orleans bridge. Was there an easier, less destructive (and potentially fatal) way to accomplish this? Probably, but only a killjoy would complain.
Déjà Vu would’ve been a blockbuster had it not tangled with James Bond
Denzel Washington as Doug Carlin looks around a corner while Paula Patton as Claire Kuchever looks at him in Déjà Vu – Touchstone Pictures
This being a Hollywood time-travel flick, you know Doug will eventually find his whole self shuttled back into the past. The first time I saw “Déjà Vu,” I was certain the film was about to go limp with a trite finale, but Scott’s got one last nifty twist in store for viewers. Is it as implausible as the rest of the movie? Absolutely! But this is an action film with a smattering of heart. If you’re looking for a time travel tale that explores the brain-breaking repercussions of to-ing and fro-ing from the present to the past and into the future, there’s always “Primer.” If you’re more in the mood for a semi-thoughtful middle ground (i.e. a mix of heady concepts and big ol’ ‘splosions), that’s what “Déjà Vu” is for.
Budgeted at $75 million, “Déjà Vu” only managed to break a little more than even with a $180.6 worldwide gross. The film received mixed reviews (it’s got a Metascore of 59), but earned a very good “A-” Cinemascore, which indicates it would’ve had strong legs provided it was launched on a weekend without direct competition.
So why did Disney put “Déjà Vu” virtually head-to-head with “Casino Royale?” The logic at the time held that spy movies were now the gritty domain of the parkour-laden Jason Bourne movies, and that a James Bond reboot attempting to mix the suave with the savage might turn off audiences. The opposite occurred. “Casino Royale” was a buzzy smash that racked up a $617 million global gross. “Déjà Vu” was sold as just another Denzel action movie, and quickly got lost in the holiday movie season shuffle. 20 years later, it’s ripe for rediscovery.
If you’re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter? You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google.
Read the original article on SlashFilm.