Deja Vu (2006)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- ATF Special Agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) risks his career and his life to stop a ferry bombing on Fat Tuesday, while simultaneously attempting to rescue Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton). Under the false pretenses of buying her car, a terrorist named Carroll Oerstadt (Jim Caviezel) kidnaps Claire and plans to use her vehicle to house a bomb intended to destroy the ferry.

After the tragic explosion on the ferry and Claire’s death, FBI Special Agent Paul Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) recruits Doug to join his team. Doug receives help from Paul, Dr. Alexander Denny (Adam Goldberg), Gunnars (Elden Henson), and Shanti (Erika Alexander) through Snow White, a complex surveillance system that’s capable of capturing past events and time travel.

Defying stern orders from  FBI Special Agent Jack McCready (Bruce Greenwood), Doug travels to the past with Denny’s help to stop the ferry bombing and save Claire. But a few unexpected developments complicates Doug’s plans.

My Thoughts- Doug Carlin is a rebel with a big heart. His partner, Larry Minuti (Matt Craven), Claire, Claire’s father (Enrique Castillo), and everyone on the ferry boat. There’s no denying that Carlin has fierce levels of compassion for helping others. 

Denzel brings the intensity to Carlin, when it’s necessary or the genuine emotional reactions for Claire and Larry. It’s heavily implied Larry would still be alive, if he didn’t chase after Oerstadt as a direct result of Doug sending a note to the past. Doug is someone, who comes off as a down to earth guy, with some unusual methods and habits, and Denzel easily delivers another good performance in the leading role here.

Jim Caviezel’s Carroll Oerstadt is everything a villain is supposed to be. I’ve always loved the interrogation scene with Denzel. That cold blank stare on Caviezel’s face, and the cocky smirk, when he tells Doug he’s determined to win. And notice how Oerstadt pulls the tape recorder closer to him, when he details how he murdered Claire. Oerstadt realized Doug deeply cared about Claire and the victims. He wanted to twist the knife by moving the tape recorder closer, while making sure to maintain eye contact with Doug. 

What’s scary about Oerstadt is, he truly believes he’s doing the right thing, motivated by “destiny.”  Oerstadt is obviously still bitter about being rejected by the Army and the Marines. He believes he’s a patriot, but in reality, he’s a coward and a hypocrite, who doesn’t have the guts to make the sacrifices he rambles on about. Carroll is completely nuts and delusional, but he’s also a cerebral antagonist. Truly a good performance from Jim Caviezel, because it’s easy to believe Carroll Oerstadt is a sadistic and deeply disturbed man.

Time travel films are tricky. You’ll always run the risk of the story becoming too wonky, if you constantly jump back and forth between timelines too much, but Deja Vu only has ONE time travel scene. 

Deja Vu is one of the few films I can think of, where time travel is presented as something that could be realistic. It’s not as simple as just punching in numbers on a computer, and bam! You’re almost instantly transported to your destination in time. Denny stresses the risks and dangers of time travel, including the possibility of death. Time travel also requires a lot of power, whether it’s just a note, or an actual human being (Doug) in the machine, so the scenes showing an entire grid losing power helps to add a tad bit of realism to the movie.

Deja vu and time travel are two elements that go hand in hand. Deja vu would explain why Doug has an obsession with saving Claire. You have to believe Doug traveled through time more than once to try and save Claire and foil Oerstadt’s plans. The evidence is all over Claire’s apartment, and Doug just can’t shake the feeling of knowing or having a connection with Claire in the past. 

The clever chase scene, where Doug is trying to track down Oerstadt’s hideout and hopefully save Larry is one of the big highlights of the movie. Weaving in and out of the past and present, while Doug follows Oerstadt using the Goggle Rig works as a unique chase sequence, and a refreshing spin on how time travel can be used with different methods.

The ending? I have to admit I’ve never been too crazy about Doug emerging to ride off with Claire after the bomb explodes underwater. I can understand why they wanted to go for the big happy ending, and it ties in with the deja vu theme throughout the movie. But Doug from the previous timeline dying without the appearance of another Doug would’ve had a stronger emotional impact. Doug successfully saved Claire, everyone on the ferry, and he killed Oerstadt, so mission accomplished, right?

But this is a time travel movie, so of course that means more opportunities for a number of scenarios and possibilities. I’m not a big fan of the ending, but I also wouldn’t call it a plot hole. Just going off of Denny’s explanations about time travel, it’s possible Doug finally closed some kind of loop, when he killed Oerstadt and saved the ferry. Everything reset to normal, so that would explain why the final version of Doug during the closing moments of the movie wasn’t familiar with Claire, and he genuinely had no idea who she was.

Certain events and moments in Deja Vu are a bit too convenient. After he travels to the past, Doug lands in a hospital right next to a group of surgeons, who are seemingly in the middle of open heart surgery? And Doug arrives in the ambulance moments before Oerstadt is about to cut off Claire’s fingers. 

Deja Vu is predictable, but it’s still an entertaining sci-fi action film. It’s heavy on the action, and Deja Vu delivers its fare share of thrills. Denzel Washington brings his usual commanding presence to this one. A solid supporting cast with noteworthy performances from Val Kilmer, Bruce Greenwood, and Adam Goldberg. There’s also some good humor here, especially the banter between Golderg, Henson, Alexander, Doug, and Doug’s K-Y Jelly line and Oerstadt’s reaction to it. And she’s basically limited to a damsel in distress role, but Paula Patton still manages to make the most of her appearances throughout the movie. 

Deja Vu is set during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There’s a nice encouraging message for the people of New Orleans before the credits start rolling. There’s also a noticeable effort to showcase the customs and lifestyle in New Orleans. Doug riding a streetcar as a means of helping with his process to solve crimes, and Claire’s jazz inspired funeral are two good examples.

The opening scene of the movie does a great job of building sympathy for the ferry victims. The little girl dropping her doll in the water, the happy Navy sailors enjoying themselves, and it’s easy to see and feel the overall joyous mood on the ferry. It’s all snatched away from them in an instant, when the explosion happens. No time to react, no time to run for safety, or say any goodbyes.

Rating- 7/10

Twixt (2011)

Hall Baltimore (Val Kilmer) is an alcoholic and struggling horror novelist, who’s stuck in a deep depression after his young daughter’s untimely death. The latest entry in his witch hunting series is a failure, and Hall’s overzealous wife, Denise (Joanne Whalley) is trying to figure out a solution for the stacks of overdue bills.

Desperate, Hall agrees to host a book signing in a small town’s hardware store. Eventually, Hall teams up with the local sheriff to write a new horror novel on vampires. But during a series of dreams, Hall uncovers unsolved  murder mysteries and the evil intentions of a local gothic cult.

In his dreams, Hall forms a bond with Edgar Allan Poe (Ben Chaplin), and a vampiric girl named V (Elle Fanning). With Poe and V’s help, Hall learns more secrets, and Hall uses his dreams as an inspiration for the new vampire novel. Ignoring all warnings, Hall digs deeper into the mystery during his dreams, while enduring some intense pressure from his antsy publisher. Will Hall succumb to the pressure of producing a new hit? Or is solving the local murder mystery more important? 

Some critics peg Godfather III as the beginning of a downfall for Francis Ford Coppola’s career. But those complaints are over exaggerated, because it’s hard (or damn near impossible) to follow in the footsteps of Godfather and Godfather II. No, Jack (that shitty comedy with Robin Williams and Jennifer Lopez) is the low point in Coppola’s career. Unfortunately, you won’t see Godfather III Coppola here. Instead, you’ll see Jack Coppola.

Coppola had great success in the horror genre with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but  Coppola’s directing for Twixt isn’t something to brag about. The CGI is very cheap and tacky, the split screen web cam point of view reaches the point of overkill during the early stages of the movie, and the blending of vibrant colors in a black and white setting didn’t do anything for me. During Hall’s dream sequences, you’ll see bright yellow lemons, red splatters of blood, and Edgar Allan Poe’s glowing lantern. Meanwhile, the backdrop of each scene is black and white. This technique didn’t help Twixt‘s frightless atmosphere. The blending of colors just made everything feel more cartoonish.

Coppola will always be remembered as a great director, and rightfully so. But his style for Twixt is VERY bland and dull, and I honestly can’t think of one good jump scare from this film. I think it‘s safe to say we‘ll never see Godfather or Apocalypse Now Coppola again, and Tetro (in 2008 or 2009, I think) was his last watchable film.

I didn’t care about, or like any of the characters here. You can feel for Hall, as the grieving father and struggling writer. But as the story develops, Hall turns into this sleazy douchebag, who’ll do anything to find inspiration for his new book. Elle Fanning’s V is too shallow, and her character receives some of the worst dialogue in this entire movie. The sheriff and his deputy are gullible hillbillies, and the sheriff constantly succumbs to his awestruck feelings for the big-time writer from the city. Denise is the typical nagging and overbearing wife, Hall’s publisher is the pushy boss, and Chaplin’s Poe is a lifeless imitation of the famous poet. The cast deserves a lot of credit for effort, but the characters were poorly written, and I saw one too many stereotypes throughout this film. 

Coppola also wrote the screenplay, and Twixt’s muddled story is really frustrating. Twixt is supposed to be a murder mystery with supernatural elements, but it’s hard to stay in suspension of disbelief mode. The story takes so many wild and silly turns, and after a while, I couldn’t take this film seriously anymore. The dialogue veers into campy territory too often, causing some really awkward and unintentional funny moments, and the grand finale is so contrived and underwhelming.

In the end, Twixt is a boring and bland horror film with horrendous special effects, and no real jump scares, suspense, or tension. Jack is still my pick for Coppola’s worst film as director, but Twixt is a close second, and that’s saying something.

 Final Rating: 1/10