Excellent movie and one largely overlooked beautiful thing about it is the music - old songs, from 30. and 40. and 50. One may wonder whether anything shown in there happened in reality as Victoria Foyt plays it quite convincingly.... It is also interesting that the director directed his wife's nude scenes... Amazing film, done largely in the manner of filming documentary drama, and that was in 1997! However, whenever I see a movie like this I think why on earth directors do not put children in such stories.... because when children are there, there is no room for good romance or finding the love of your life.... it's just that simple :-(

If you strip away all the romantic trappings of destiny conspiring to bring two soul mates together, this remains a tawdry tale of adultery between an English architect and an American businesswoman. One is married for ten years and the other on the brink of her wedding. Jaglom does his best to garner sympathy for the two lovers. It is not their fault that they lie and cheat but fate that keeps throwing them together. Destiny's hand is revealed in a reoccurring theme song, numerous chance encounters, and a mysterious broach. For good measure, he even throws in a supernatural element. The lovers never seem to express any genuine guilt or skepticism. They are just in a constant state of amazement and are as dumbfounded as the audience at the ridiculousness of the movie's script. Just as one of the lovers begins to exhibit some misgivings, Vanessa Redgrave as the wise sage of "seize the day" theory gives a resounding speech about "jumping into the river of life." Another false note was the dogma-style hand-held camera technique which gives a gritty realism that is jarring to the fairy tale like story the director so desperately wants to sell. By the end, instead of cheering on the lovers my sympathies were with their discarded partners.

I must say I enjoyed this movie and I was taken by it from the first moments. It is full of wonderful characters and interesting acting. It was not replete with name actors and formula plots. The quiet moments when the characters waxed philosophical were the best parts of the movie. It was a script that I could put my spiritual teeth in.At first it was distracting to see Redgrave sitting among her "lessers" but as her role continued...I realized why she took the role. It spoke volumes about the central premise of fate and free will and added much to the film's story line. Plus, she delivered a marvelous performance.(It always fascinates me when someone states that THIS is the worst movie they have ever seen. To say that about THIS movie reveals that the reviewer has not seen many movies. I have seen some alarmingly bad movies where I am cringing throughout. That is bad folks. This is not Shakespeare nor Gone With The Wind...instead...it is charming.)Deja-vu was wonderful...a romantic movie for woman and men :)

This film seems to be either loved or hated, as even the user ratings show. I'm one of the ones who loves it. It seems either one "gets it" or one misses the point. You have to be able to overlook some of the low budget feel of some of the technical aspects, not be in a critical frame of mind, and just sit back and let it hit you. I'm a very big Stephen Dillane fan, think he's so real in each role he plays, and this film gives many moments of enjoying his honest-feeling responses to the events of the story. I recommend viewing it alone, at least at first, because then you can really be free to enjoy it without the additional dynamic of wondering if others like it. I got my husband to watch it with me, and it was hard for him to let it hit him. It is more of a woman's film, anyway, as the male lead is much more attractive than the female lead, not like another romance, Firelight, with Stephen Dillane and Sophie Marceau, a sexy female lead.