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5. Is there any overall spiritual or religious dimension to the film as a whole? How, if at all, do all the religious references influence the overall effect? Why do you think they are there?

Déjà Vu is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality. The movie features a massive explosive terrorist attack against a crowded public transportation target. A post mortem scene reveals that a character was tortured and mutilated before being killed, and we later see a character being menaced in the same way while another character suffers a similar murder. There are also voyeuristic scenes of men covertly watching a young woman in various states of undress in her apartment, and another scene features still images of lingerie-clad female figures. Some crass and objectionable language is used.

Photos © Copyright Touchstone & Buena Vista

© 2006, Steven D. Greydanus subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

The last time Tony Scott directed Denzel Washington, moviegoers got the violent revenge thriller Man on Fire, in which an American hero captures and tortures the foreign villains with reckless abandon.

This time, in Déjà Vu, the two cook up more high-energy entertainment, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. This time, Washington plays an agent working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He's a brilliant investigator, but he may not be prepared for the deeper, more complicated waters of his next case, which leads him into a tangled path that wanders back and forth through time.

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) calls it "a smart and sufficiently engaging sci-fi flavored mystery, despite some wormholes in story logic."

Christopher Lyon (Plugged In) writes, "Déjà Vu wants to be lots of things: a ripped-from-the-headlines, sci-fi, love story, terrorism-themed police action/thriller. … Is it just too much to sustain the story? Sure. Does it all unravel if you think about it too hard? You betcha. Was I on the edge of my seat most of the time anyway … ? OK, yes."

Christian Hamaker (Crosswalk) says it's "not a profound work, nor is it head and shoulders above the filmmakers' earlier projects, but Déjà Vu may be the first film from either man to demand a second viewing—not only because of the complicated plot, but because of the existential issues it raises about God, man and foreordination."

"[W]hile Déjà Vu might not be high art, it proved to be an interesting and entertaining movie," says Michael Brunk (Past the Popcorn). "I don't think you'll be disappointed."

Mainstream critics are offering a mix of responses—some found it "engaging," others call it "preposterous."

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