In his most effective thriller since Enemy of the State; Tony Scott makes time travel seem plausible. It helps that his New Orleans hero; ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington in his third go-round with the director); spends more time in the present than the past. In order to catch a terrorist; FBI Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) invites Carlin to join forces. They have the technology to see the past. He has the expertise to interpret the data. Unfortunately; the bomb has already gone off and hundreds of ferry passengers have died. Then there's the body of a beautiful woman; Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton; Idlewild); that turns up in the vicinity of the blast. Evidence indicates she was killed beforehand. Since the FBI enables him to observe Claire prior to her murder; Carlin gets to know what she was like and finds himself falling in love. He becomes convinced that the only way to solve the case--and prove her innocence--is to travel to the past. But as Pryzwarra's colleague; Denny (Adam Goldberg); argues; "You cannot go back in time. It's physically impossible." Or so he says. D?j? Vu is constructed around a clever script and executed by a top-notch cast; notably Washington; Patton; and an eerie Jim Caviezel (miles away from Passion of the Christ). In shedding the excesses of recent years--the sadism of Man on Fire and weirdness of Tarantino favorite Domino--Scott re-affirms his rep as one of the action movie's finest practitioners. --Kathleen C. Fennessy