Déjà Vu *** (1997, Stephen Dillane, Victoria Foyt, Vanessa Redgrave, Anna Massey, Noel Harrison) – Classic Movie Review 4719

Co-writer/ director Henry Jaglom’s weird 1997 romantic tale about the twists of fate and the perennial pull of love is a bit of a padded-out shaggy-dog story, but it certainly has its moments, though most of them centre on the peripheral characters. With Stephen Dillane, Victoria Foyt, Anna Massey, Noel Harrison and Vanessa Redgrave starring, there is a very nice cast who provide their own allure and help a civilised film along charmingly.

Victoria Foyt stars as Dana, an American young woman on a trip business trip to Jerusalem, who encounters an older Frenchwoman who shares her table at a café and divulges the story of her lost love centred on an antique pin she is wearing.

The woman mysteriously vanishes from the café, leaving the pin behind, forcing Dana to reschedule her trip through Paris in an unsettling attempt to return the jewel by taking it back to the jeweller’s shop where it was originally made and getting them to place it in their window. She goes on to England, and at Dover, meets a romantic Englishman, Sean (Stephen Dillane), an artist with whom she has a fling.

Anna Massey and Noel Harrison are unexpectedly superb, breathtaking scene-stealers as a dotty old English married couple, Fern and John Stoner. But not all the actors handle the improvised dialogue equally well – even Vanessa Redgrave seems uneasy making up her lines as Skelly. But the film’s good heart and appealing eccentricity shine through.

Déjà Vu is not great but it is very likeable. You may never want to hear The White Cliffs of Dover again after hearing it so many times in this movie!

Also in the cast are Glynis Barber, Michael Brandon, Rachel Kempson, Aviva Marks, Graydon Gould as Dana’s father and Vernon Dobtcheff.

Jaglom scripts with star Foyt.

Rachel Kempson, who died on May 24 2003, aged 92, plays the mother of Skelly in her final film. She played the mother of her daughter Vanessa Redgrave in both The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and Déjà Vu.

Victoria Foyt (born on April 7, 1958) has been married to Jaglom since 1988.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4719

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Anna Massey (1937–2011).

Noel Harrison (1934–2013).