Cinema review
Directed by: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel, Bruce Greenwood

Federal agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) joins forces with a surveillance team who may have a genuine gateway to the past...

Tony Scott’s latest movie takes the already preposterous super-surveillance technology of Enemy of the State (arguably his last sheerly entertaining film) and catapults it into the realm of sci-fi. After a first act that feels like CSI on a huge budget (Jerry Bruckheimer is producer), some whopping suspension of disbelief is demanded. Not only do we have a hush-hush government gizmo that can see four-and-a-half days into the past, it can send someone there too! That someone is Denzel Washington, who strives to keep the silliness grounded with his usual charm and conviction.

It’s also a relief to see Scott tone down the eye-blistering overkill of his recent films. For all the time-warping and brain-bending, Deja Vu is a lot more coherent than Domino. Ultimately, it only pays lip service to the philosophical questions about time travel. It’s not the talk of destiny and divine intervention you’ll remember, but the daft car chase that takes place half in the present, half in the past. There’s also something Terminator-lite about Washington’s relationship with the woman (Paula Patton) caught up in his race to pre-empt catastrophe. Still, with its icy villain (Jim Caviezel) and fat explosions, there are far worse ways to pass the time. Matthew Leyland

VERDICT: 6/10
A strained marriage of dumb and clever, but delivered slickly enough to stop you thinking you’ve seen it all before.