"DÉJÀ VU"
(2006) (Denzel Washington, Paula Patton) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
*None	Heavy	Extreme	Heavy	Extreme
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Minor	Extreme	Mild	Moderate
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Extreme

---

QUICK TAKE:

Suspense/Thriller: Following its initial occurrence several days earlier, a government agent tries to stop the bombing of a ferry from happening for the first time by altering the events leading up to it.

PLOT:

The bombing of a large ferry has just occurred in New Orleans, so hometown AFT agent Doug Carlin (DENZEL WASHINGTON) is immediately on the scene. Meeting FBI agent Pryzwarra (VAL KILMER) and his boss Jack McCready (BRUCE GREENWOOD), Doug seeks out the small details for clues, all of which leads him to a morgue where he views the body of Claire Kuchever (PAULA PATTON). She's seemingly one of the ferry victims, but Doug becomes suspicious when he hears her body was reported before the explosion.

Seeing how Doug is with deciphering clues, Pryzwarra recruits him to be part of their investigatory team. It seems the government has found a way to look into the immediate past, and with technicians including Dr. Alexander Denny (ADAM GOLDBERG) and Shanti (ERIKA ALEXANDER) manning the consoles, they might be able to spot the killer before he commits the already executed attack.

Thinking Claire is the key, Doug has them focus on surveillance footage of her and her apartment, an act that intrigues him even more when he realizes a previous phone message he got from a work associate, Kevin Donnelly (MARK PHINNEY), was from Claire, someone he doesn't previously know, or so he thinks.

Accordingly, Doug becomes obsessed with solving the case, particularly as he becomes fixated on Paula and having heard that his partner, Larry Minuti (MATT CRAVEN), might have been on the ferry that will blow up again in the past. Once they identify the bomber as Carroll Oerstadt (JIM CAVIEZEL), it's a race against time to stop him from repeating the act in the past, all while Doug and the rest aren't even sure they can have such an effect.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

It might be intriguing for the teen set as well as those who are fans of anyone in the cast or direct Tony Scott.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13

For intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

DENZEL WASHINGTON plays the smart, resourceful and local ATF agent who becomes obsessed not only with saving Claire, but also stopping the killer before he strikes (again) for the first time.

VAL KILMER plays an FBI agent who recruits Doug to be part of their team trying to identify the killer before he strikes again (really for the first time).

JIM CAVIEZEL plays the deranged bomber whose obsessive quest to serve his country in a military fashion has led him off the deep end of psychosis.

PAULA PATTON plays the young woman Doug becomes determined to save from Oerstadt and is initially suspicious of the ATF agent and his knowledge about her and what's next going to occur.

ADAM GOLDBERG plays the lead technician working on the government time-travel program.

ERIKA ALEXANDER plays an associate of Denny's who's working on the top-secret program.

MATT CRAVEN plays Doug's partner in the immediate past.

MARK PHINNEY plays an associate of Doug's who relays him important information regarding the case.

BRUCE GREENWOOD plays the lead FBI agent in charge of the case who doesn't care about saving Claire when he thinks they have their man.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

---

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

---

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this thriller that's rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 5 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some brief, but non-explicit, sexually related dialogue and one sexual lyric are present, while a woman's bare butt and breasts and briefly seen as she gets into her shower (she's also briefly seen in various stages of undress alone in her home).

Violence consists of a ferry bombing that kills hundreds of people, while others are shot and wounded or killed and some are struck, including a woman. Some of that has bloody results (and a dead and partially burned body is seen in a morgue), and those scenes and various moments of peril might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to viewers.

The killer has a bad attitude, a brief drug-related comment is made, and some brief smoking occurs. Finally, a father is informed of his daughter's death and there's later a brief funeral scene.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some bouncy camerawork from time to time in the film.

---

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

None, but seeing how intense Doug is being about working on the case, Denny sarcastically jokes that he picked a bad week to stop snorting hash. Later, Oerstadt half jokes that you can't have too much alcohol, tobacco, or firearms (in relation to Doug working for the ATF).

BLOOD/GORE

We see dead bodies piled up, some that are a little bloody, while there are plenty of filled body bags at the recovery scene of the ferry explosion.

About seeing surveillance footage of a guy standing at a tall bridge's wall, mid-span, Kevin jokes that maybe the guy (seen from a distance) is going to the bathroom.

In the morgue, we see a dead woman on a table, with bad and somewhat bloody burns on one side of her body, a slight cut on her face (her eyes are open), and the ends of her fingers missing on one hand. Doug then rubs his finger over her skin and then tastes that to note a substance on her.

Doug investigates Claire's place following her death, finding bloodstained rags in the sink and a little blood on the floor. He then finds some bloody material in a trash can.

We see that Oerstadt has Claire bound to a chair with a bag over her head. He then pours diesel fuel (or something similar) all over her, but she ends up scraping his face with her fingernails (bloodying his face and there's blood under her nails). That prompts him to punch her hard in the face (still hooded), thus sending her and the chair to the floor. He then picks up some hand shears to snip off her fingers that have his blood on them (all as Doug races to get to her in time to save her).

Doug crashes an ambulance (he's the only one in it) into Oerstadt's lair, prompting the killer to open fire on the vehicle, striking Doug in the shoulder (with bloody results).

We see that Claire's nose is bloody from where Oerstadt earlier punched her, and she has a few bloody scrapes elsewhere on her.

Doug's shirt becomes bloodier as the gunshot wound to his shoulder continues to bleed.

We see Doug shirtless as he tends to a gunshot wound to his shoulder (we see the entry wound on one side, and the exit on the other). He wipes up some of the blood (we see the bloody material he earlier saw in her place), but we then see a trickle down his back from the still open wound.

Oerstadt shoots a ferry guard several times with his handgun, with some brief bloody results.

Claire has a small and slightly bloody scrape on her face.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Oerstadt has a bad attitude for detonating his bombs on a ferry, resulting in the death of more than 500 people. He also kills Doug's partner, and kidnaps Claire with the intent of killing her as well.

McCready closes down the project when he thinks they have their man, ignoring Doug wanting to save Claire in the past.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Scenes listed under "Violence" or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers, especially those who are younger and/or who have low tolerance levels for such material.

A huge, fiery explosion suddenly rocks a large ferry. We see people on fire falling off into the water (along with cars) from the burning ship, while others are alive in the water. We hear that more than 500 people were killed in the bombing.

We see Doug climbing up onto a railing beneath a tall bridge as he looks for clues (some worry he may slip or fall).

As Doug tries calling his partner's cell phone, he thinks he hears a faint ringing sound coming from a body bag.

In the morgue, we see a dead woman on a table, with bad and somewhat bloody burns on one side of her body, a slight cut on her face (her eyes are open), and the ends of her fingers missing on one hand. Doug then rubs his finger over her skin and then tastes that to note a substance on her.

Another man says Doug's fingerprints are all over Claire's place, but he wore gloves when he was there, so he's confused about what's occurring (and some may worry he's being set up).

In just her towel, Claire thinks she hears something in her house, and slowly goes around to check, but doesn't find anyone or anything.

While driving, Doug wears a special goggle system that allows him to see the same road several days ago in the past at night. Because of this double vision, he nearly wrecks, and then slams into the side of a jersey barrier. He then causes a bad car wreck involving various vehicles while pursuing a car he sees in the past. He then crashes into another vehicle, followed by a semi slamming on the breaks, sliding toward and then crashing into him.

Doug slowly walks around the killer's lair with his gun drawn (he's there during the day, while the view back at headquarters is from several night's ago, with them narrating to him what they're seeing). He then sees a burned out spot on the ground as those back at HQ narrate to him (and we see the past footage) about his partner being dragged there at night. The killer then pours diesel fuel on the victim (who's still alive). He then shoots and then sets that man on fire (all a view of the past). In the present, Doug then sees movement under a pier, races over there, opens a hatch and finds an alligator yanking on a dead body in the water (no blood).

Since we've heard people can't be sent through the time machine, some viewers may worry about Doug as Denny prepares to send him back through that very device. After being sent, Doug ends up in a hospital's operating room where he's convulsing on a table. The personnel there then race over, find the words "revive me" written on his chest, and then shock and use CPR to try to revive him.

We see that Oerstadt has Claire bound to a chair with a bag over her head. He then pours diesel fuel (or something similar) all over her, but she ends up scraping his face with her fingernails (bloodying his face and there's blood under her nails). That prompts him to punch her hard in the face (still hooded), thus sending her and the chair to the floor. He then picks up some hand shears to snip off her fingers that have his blood on them (all as Doug races to get to her in time to save her).

Doug crashes an ambulance (he's the only one in it) into Oerstadt's lair, prompting the killer to open fire on the vehicle, striking Doug in the shoulder (with bloody results). Oerstadt flees, opens a propane tank canister and then opens fire on Doug again (from outside the building) prompting the gas to ignite and explode. Doug ducks for cover, then rushes over and grabs Claire and gets her out of the building just in time as a bigger explosion rips the place apart and knocks the two of them to the ground outside.

Doug's shirt becomes bloodier as the gunshot wound to his shoulder continues to bleed.

Not sure who he is, Claire fearfully holds a gun on Doug in her place.

Doug tells Claire to inform the cops of what's going to occur and then boards the ferry to try to stop the bombing. But she then sees Oerstadt come back, so after he boards it as well, she runs and literally jumps onto the ferry (over a small span of water) at the last moment.

Claire sneaks around various cars on the ferry, trying to spot Oerstadt but not let him know where she is.

Oerstadt suddenly holds a gun on Claire.

Doug gives himself up to Oerstadt with his gun emptied as Oerstadt holds one machine gun on him and another on Claire who's in a parked truck that's filled with explosives.

A man shoots at Doug, with Claire then driving forward and smashing the man into another parked vehicle, resulting in him wildly firing the two machine guns he's carrying, including one back at Claire in the truck. Doug then shoots him dead.

Doug gets into a bomb-laden truck with Claire, and we see that the bomb has now activated. But before they can do anything, police are there with their guns drawn. Doug tells her to drive anyway, and so she steps on the petal as they smash through parked vehicles and the cops open fire on them.

A truck becomes airborne, goes off the edge of a ferry into a body of water, and then starts to sink as it fills with water. A ferry then runs over the truck, sending it deeper into the water. The woman inside manages to get out and barely avoids the ferry's propeller, but the man inside is trapped and seems to start to drown. The explosives inside then detonate, and we see a huge explosion of water on the surface.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Handguns/Machine guns/Explosives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details.

Doug investigates Claire's place following her death, and finds a pistol there.

National Guardsmen carry automatic weapons.

We see government agents with machine guns as they storm a neighborhood to catch Oerstadt and do so at gunpoint.

Oerstadt half jokes that you can't have too much alcohol, tobacco, or firearms (in relation to Doug working for the ATF).

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Holy sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "You better have some KY, you're gonna need it," "Pissed off," "My bad," "Screwing with it," "What the hell /happened?" "This is tripping," "Going to hell in a handbag," "I don't give a rat's ass" and "Who the hell is that?"

Denny has various tattoos on his arms, while Oerstadt has many tattoos on his body.

Doug grabs a guard's gun after tapping him on the other side of his body to distract him.

JUMP SCENES

Oerstadt suddenly holds a gun on Claire.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

An extreme amount of action-oriented, suspenseful, and ominous music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

The Beach Boys song "Don't Worry Baby" includes the lyric, "Oh what she does to me, when she makes love to me."

PROFANITY

At least 5 "s" words, 5 hells, 2 asses, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 damn, 4 uses of "Jesus," 2 of "Oh God" and 1 use of "My God."

SEX/NUDITY

We see miscellaneous cleavage.

We see Claire in her bra (that shows some cleavage) in her house.

We see the top half of a male investigator's hairy butt as his pants have partially ridden down while he squats down investigating something.

We see Claire going into her shower and briefly see partial glimpses of her bare butt and breasts as she does so. We later see her in just her towel.

We see Claire's cleavage, then her getting dressed (a brief view of her in her panties and bra), and then see more cleavage while she's bent over. She then practices meeting someone (in her mirror), including doing a practice kiss on her arm.

Claire shows some cleavage in her cocktail dress.

Agent Pryzwarra tells Doug that he suggests he (Doug) go home and jump on (have sex with) whoever he's got (but Doug says there's no one there).

When Oerstadt tells Doug he better have heavenly intervention for what's to come, Doug replies back that Oerstadt better have some KY (lubricant) as he's going to need it (in prison).

We see Doug in his boxers and a t-shirt.

We see Doug shirtless as he tends to a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

The Beach Boys song "Don't Worry Baby" includes the lyric, "Oh what she does to me, when she makes love to me."

SMOKING

Oerstadt wants a smoke, so Doug gets him one, and the suspect smokes it.

A number of miscellaneous people smoke in a number of scenes.

Oerstadt half jokes that you can't have too much alcohol, tobacco, or firearms (in relation to Doug working for the ATF).

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Doug visits a dead woman's father, informing him of the death and then asking investigatory questions about her and her previous actions. During this, we hear she had an ex-fiancée who's since moved away. As Doug is leaving, the father gives him photos of her, saying he needs his daughter to matter to Doug (so that he'll be more motivated to solve her murder).

We see Claire's funeral (some family members are there).

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

There's talk of Hurricane Katrina, and we later see several views of dilapidated neighborhoods.

We hear that Doug worked the Oklahoma City bombing case.

Doug's philosophy that no matter what, we lose everything.

The concept of time travel.

The notion of walking in the same footsteps of people from the past.

The question of what if you had to tell someone the most important thing in their life but you know they wouldn't believe you.

VIOLENCE

A huge, fiery explosion suddenly rocks a large ferry. We see people on fire falling off into the water (along with cars) from the burning ship, while others are alive in the water. We hear that more than 500 people were killed in the bombing.

Doug smashes a video monitor to prove a point and get the others' attention.

We see grainy footage of Larry approaching the suspect's truck at night, with his gun drawn, but he's shot several times and drops to the street (no blood or actual impact). We then see the suspect dragging him away in the rain.

While driving, Doug wears a special goggle system that allows him to see the same road several days ago in the past at night. Because of this double vision, he nearly wrecks, and then slams into the side of a jersey barrier. He then causes a bad car wreck involving various vehicles while pursuing a car he sees in the past. He then crashes into another vehicle, followed by a semi slamming on the breaks, sliding toward and then crashing into him.

Doug slowly walks around the killer's lair with his gun drawn (he's there during the day, while the view back at headquarters is from several night's ago, with them narrating to him what they're seeing). He then sees a burned out spot on the ground as those back at HQ narrate to him (and we see the past footage) about his partner being dragged there at night. The killer then pours diesel fuel on the victim (who's still alive). He then shoots and then sets that man on fire (all a view of the past). In the present, Doug then sees movement under a pier, races over there, opens a hatch and finds an alligator yanking on a dead body in the water (no blood).

Doug grabs a guard's gun after tapping him on the other side of his body to distract him. He then holds the gun on that man and another while stealing an ambulance he needs to try to save Claire and stop the bombing.

We see that Oerstadt has Claire bound to a chair with a bag over her head. He then pours diesel fuel (or something similar) all over her, but she ends up scraping his face with her fingernails (bloodying his face and there's blood under her nails). That prompts him to punch her hard in the face (still hooded), thus sending her and the chair to the floor. He then picks up some hand shears to snip off her fingers that have his blood on them (all as Doug races to get to her in time to save her).

Doug crashes an ambulance (he's the only one in it) into Oerstadt's lair, prompting the killer to open fire on the vehicle, striking Doug in the shoulder (with bloody results). Oerstadt flees, opens a propane tank canister and then opens fire on Doug again (from outside the building) prompting the gas to ignite and explode. Doug ducks for cover, then rushes over and grabs Claire and gets her out of the building just in time as a bigger explosion rips the place apart and knocks the two of them to the ground outside.

Oerstadt shoots a ferry guard several times with his handgun, with some brief bloody results.

Oerstadt shoots a machine gun at military personnel on a ferry (none are hit).

A guard tries shooting Oerstadt with a handgun, but the latter, who's wearing a bulletproof vest, shoots and kills that guard with a machine gun.

Some vehicles onboard a ferry explode when hit by gunfire.

A man shoots at Doug, with Claire then driving forward and smashing the man into another parked vehicle, resulting in him wildly firing the two machine guns he's carrying, including one back at Claire in the truck. Doug then shoots him dead.

Doug gets into a bomb-laden truck with Claire, and we see that the bomb has now activated. But before they can do anything, police are there with their guns drawn. Doug tells her to drive anyway, and so she steps on the petal as they smash through parked vehicles and the cops open fire on them.

A truck becomes airborne, goes off the edge of a ferry into a body of water, and then starts to sink as it fills with water. A ferry then runs over the truck, sending it deeper into the water. The woman inside manages to get out and barely avoids the ferry's propeller, but the man inside is trapped and seems to start to drown. The explosives inside then detonate, and we see a huge explosion of water on the surface.

Reviewed November 8, 2006/ Posted November 22, 2006

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.