Birthday Movies

Okay, so I didn’t get my movie reviews done over the weekend. But as I mentioned I was planning in my previous entry, I did make it to the theater for two movies back-to-back on Saturday for my birthday. And what two new movies did I go see? That would be Déjà Vu, and The Fountain. So here’s my short, sweet, and to-the-point reviews for these two movies. We’ll start with the latter. The Fountain is kind of hard to describe in too much detail without giving away too much of the plot, but to sum up, it is basically a love story about a man trying to find a cure for his dying wife, with something of a sci-fi angle to it. But the sci-fi elements of the story I’m not really going to touch on, firstly because I think they’re more enjoyable if you don’t really know what’s coming, and secondly because I truly feel they’re completely secondary to the love story. Now I’m sure there are those narrow-minded folks out there who won’t like it or won’t want to see it “because they’re just not into science fiction,” but I say that’s just their loss. At the heart of the film is the story of Hugh Jackman, a research scientist trying to find a cure for his dying wife, played by Rachel Weisz, and it's this story that really makes the film worth seeing.

This is just a beautiful, touching film. I definitely found myself fighting back the tears in a couple of spots (but then again, deep down I’m just a big old softy when it comes to these sorts of movies – what can I say). Visually it’s very impressive, and while the story is a bit confusing at first (since the storyline jumps back and forth in time, and is a bit on the metaphysical side in parts), once you get into what’s going on it really pulls you in and keeps you invested all the way up to the climax. While I’m sure this movie isn’t for everyone, I absolutely loved it. On the flip side, I don’t know that I’ll buy it on DVD, as it doesn’t really have a lot of replay value (at least, in my opinion), but I’m very glad I had the chance to see it, especially at the theater. Definitely a good couple’s movie (although, sadly, I had to see it by myself).

The next movie I saw on Saturday (and it timed out perfectly – I left The Fountain shortly after the end credits started to roll, bought my ticket, and sat down for the next movie just before the trailers started) was the latest from director Tony Scott: Déjà Vu, starring Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer (and with a supporting role by Bruce Greenwood, and actor I’ve really liked ever since his short-lived TV show, Nowhere Man – which I really need to pick up on DVD one of these days). This is another movie that’s difficult to discuss in too much detail without giving away plot points, so I’m going to give my spoiler alert now. If you want to be completely surprised by this one, just suffice it to say this is a pretty solid (although not spectacular) suspense thriller that, like The Fountain, has a bit of a sci-fi element to it. If you like action thrillers or Denzel Washington movies, this is one you’ll probably enjoy. And with that said, onto some more details about the movie.

You can probably guess from the trailers and from the title of the film that this movie has a time travel element to it. To be more specific, the government has found a way to look precisely four days into the past, and is using this technology to try and find those responsible for the terrorist explosion that features so prominently in the trailers. Denzel plays an ATF agent assigned to the case. Val Kilmer is the FBI agent in charge of the project that lets them look into the past. I think that’s about all I’ll say about the overall plot, because anything more than that would really be giving away some spoilers (and this is definitely a movie that’s more fun to watch if you don’t really know a whole lot about what’s coming).

Between the director and the stars and the premise, I was almost certain this would be a movie I’d enjoy. I say ‘almost’ because time travel movies are always hit or miss for me. The whole issue of paradox and changing the past, etc. can be done really poorly, which tends to ruin the whole effort. This movie actually does a pretty good job with the way it handles it, and I have to say I was impressed. All in all this is a pretty enjoyable movie if you don’t take it too seriously. As I said above, this isn’t necessarily a great movie, but it was certainly worth the price of admission, and I’m glad I went to see it.