Director Watch Podcast Ep. 57 – ‘Deja Vu (Tony Scott, 2006) with guest Brendan Cassidy of InSession Film

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 57 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by InSession Film podcaster and film critic Brendan Cassidy to to discuss the latest film in their Tony Scott series, Déjà Vu (2006).

There have been many types of films Tony Scott has wanted to make throughout his celebrated career, but one of them wasn’t science fiction. Scott didn’t like the idea of the focus being taken away from the characters in exchange for a high concept idea like the one at the heart of Déjà Vu. But after some convincing from frequent collaborators Denzel Washington and Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott was able to get on board, as the sci-fi, time travel thriller slowly morphed into a character piece on one man’s journey to save an innocent girl, along with a boat full of murdered Navy soldiers, from an attack by a psychopath. Scott also used the film as a chance to make a love letter to the city, spirit, and people of New Orleans, and in doing so, made one of his best films the guys have talked about in the series so far. Ryan, Jay and Brendan break down the logic of the film, their love for it, Denzel’s stellar low-energy performance, the incredible chase sequence between both the past and the present, make a couple of Tenent jokes, and marvel at the blockbuster era of the early 2000s.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 2h07m. The guys will be back next week to conclude their series on the films of Tony Scott with a review of his last film, Unstoppable. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro)