Deja Vu

Thriller/Suspense, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Starring Denzel Washington, and Val Kilmer

Story: As a thriller/suspense film, Deja Vu is indeed a well-crafted who-dunnit romp. The protagonist's journey is well-motivated and easy to empathize with--mainly because the inciting incident occurs very early in the film.

As a sci-fi/fantasy, this film requires an affinity for techno-speak and a mind well-attuned to comprehending temporal paradoxes and spatial conundrums.

Unfortunately, unless you like both thrillers and science-fiction films, you may find it difficult to track what's going on--particularly if you don't pay careful attention to every little detail and line of dialog.

Inciting Incident: 10
Building Tension: 6
Protagonist Empathy: 7
Protagonist Growth: 3
Nemesis Strength: 6
Final Climax: 7
Dialog: 6
Surprise Ending: 5

Acting: Denzel Washington is always fun to watch on the screen. He's just a likable guy--somebody you wouldn't mind inviting over for dinner and a glass of wine. In Deja Vu, he succeeds in making you care about his deep desire to solve this crime. His attraction to the already-dead leading lady is memorable and touching, and even though you don't know how it's going to happen, you hope that somehow he can find a way to get together with her.

Character Believability: 9
Performance Memorability: 6

Settings: New Orleans is a great location to make a movie. It has charm and an unusual feeling. I actually lived there for a year, and I must say I enjoyed being there for the most part. Fortunately, we moved to California 4 days before the Katrina disaster--talk about good timing. It was especially fun seeing places in the movie that I recognized.

All of the locations were well chosen and appropriate for their function in the story. I especially liked the remote camp where the nemesis tried to kill the leading lady--it was very lonely and creepy.

Cinematography: The cinematography was excellent, though it wasn't breathtaking. Especially memorable were the scenes of huge pyrotechnics followed by bodies and cars falling into the Mississippi River, and the chase scene with the one of the hero's eyes looking into the past while his other eye saw the present.

Sound: The sound was well done, but nothing worthy of merit or recognition.

Music: The music was dramatic and intense, but not memorable. I think the intensity of the music was appropriate, however, given the nature of the disaster depicted in the film.

Scoring
Overall Story Score: 6 x 3 = 18
Overall Acting Score: 8 x 2 = 16
Overall Settings Score: 7
Overall Cinematography: 7
Overall Sound Score: 5
Overall Music Score: 5

Total Score: 6.4