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Memo to Jerry Bruckheimer RE: Deja Vu
Memo to: Jerry Bruckheimer, uber-producer
From: Pleasantly surprised critic Eric Robinette
RE: Deja Vu
Hi there, Jerry. Haven’t seen you, in, oh, what’s it been, four months since the “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel? You would not BELIEVE the guff I catch for only liking and not loving those movies, Jerry. Well, then again, maybe you would.
But I digress. You’re back again with another one of your patented hi-tech action thrillers, “Deja Vu,” and you surprised me with this one, Jerry.You’ve made your first Earth-bound sci-fi thriller, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. It’s very energetic and imaginative, which is a fairly rare combination for you.
I’m probably the only critic who’s going to mention you in the same breath with the late, great Robert Altman, Jerry, so brace yourself. Remember that scene toward the beginning of Altman’s “The Player” where the movie execs are saying a project is a cross between film X and film Y? Well, “Deja Vu” is like a cross between your very own “Enemy of the State” and “Back to the Future.” Feel the power of love, indeed!
The storyline seemed fairly serious to me at first, what with Denzel Washington’s ATF agent investigating the mysterious explosion of a ferry in New Orleans. Then the movie gets really wild when Denzel meets these techno-geeks who have devised a technology that allows him to spy on the past life of a person, complete with 360-degree camera swirls and gratuitous semi-nude shots. All in the name of science, right Jerry?
When the surveillance technology turned out to be a kind of a time machine - a portal that allows people in the present to not only observe but interact with people in the past - you ran the risk of losing me, Jerry. But the idea was so loopy, so wildly creative that I ran with it anyway, just like you did. Besides, when Denzel (solid as ever) falls for and wants to save the very attractive Paula Patton, who died in the ferry explosion, I can hardly blame him.
You made a good choice in hiring Tony Scott to direct for you. He went off the deep end when he made his last film, the retina-burning “Domino,” but he’s back in good form this time. Your last film together, “Enemy of the State,” was also a very exciting techno-thriller, so it made sense that Tony would handle this material well.
He did an especially great job staging one of the most mind-blowing chase scenes I’ve watched lately when Denzel is pursuing the bombing suspect in the present by watching him in the past with a virtual reality-type helmet. Not only was the scene a grabber, but it actually made sense within the logic of the story. This is the sort of directing your old buddy Michael Bay ought to try sometime.
Now, you and Tony shouldn’t rest on your laurels - “Deja Vu” isn’t quite as good as “Enemy of the State” or “Crimson Tide,” mainly because the acting isn’t as strong, but then I guess you can’t cast Gene Hackman in all your movies, can you?
Still, you guys deserve a lot of kudos for making a thriller with a brain. Sure, all the time travel nuts who love their paradoxes will find lots of holes in the story, but I didn’t care because Tony moved the story along so fast, he didn’t give me much of a chance to think about them.
And you get extra credit for using the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry Baby” prominently in the movie. Let it not be forgotten that you’re a past master at the hit soundtrack, going all the way back to the first time you and Scott hooked up with “Top Gun.”
So congrats, Jerry, you and Tony get a B+ for this one. Seeya next May for the third “Pirates.” But do me a favor? Try and keep that one at two hours and change at the most, OK?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Reviews
Comments
By Allie D.
November 22, 2006 7:21 PM | Link to this
I really want to see this. I might have to see it after re-upping on Casino Royale… ;) Great review! You almost make me hope that all Bruckheimer movies suck just so I can read memos that were as seething as the one you wrote for Bad Boys II. :)